Scientists have hope that Jupiter's moon, Europa, could host microbial life.
NASA's Galileo spacecraft did a few flybys in the mid-1990s, what it saw was an ice-covered moon with a promise of frozen oceans and microscopic beings, a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory press release reported.
Through the satellite's discoveries, scientists were able to see very little of the frigid moon.
Researchers wrote a paper on what it would be like to land on the promising moon.
"If one day humans send a robotic lander to the surface of Europa, we need to know what to look for and what tools it should carry," Robert Pappalardo, the study's lead author, based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said. "There is still a lot of preparation that is needed before we could land on Europa, but studies like these will help us focus on the technologies required to get us there, and on the data needed to help us scout out possible landing locations. Europa is the most likely place in our solar system beyond Earth to have life today, and a landed mission would be the best way to search for signs of life."
One of the researchers' principle points of interest are the red "freckles and cracks" on the moon's icy surface. The scientists wonder if organic molecules could be responsible for the color.
Other priorities outlines in the paper were: questions on geological activity and whether or not there was liquid water, questions on how the moon is affected by Jupiter's strong force of gravity, and how active the surface of the planet is.
"Landing on the surface of Europa would be a key step in the astrobiological investigation of that world," Chris McKay, a senior editor of the journal Astrobiology, who is based at NASA Ames Research Center, said. "This paper outlines the science that could be done on such a lander. The hope would be that surface materials, possibly near the linear crack features, include biomarkers carried up from the ocean."
