The icy surface of Europa is shown strewn with cracks, ridges and "chaotic terrain," where the surface has been disrupted and ice blocks have moved around. (Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)
An ocean below the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa may have deep currents and circulation patterns with heat and energy transfers that are capable of sustaining life.
Scientists believe Europa is one of the planetary bodies in our solar system most likely to have conditions that could sustain life, an idea reinforced by magnetometer readings from the Galileo spacecraft detecting signs of a salty, global ocean below the moon’s icy shell.
