Chances are very high that Europa , Jupiter's moon host alien life. NASA announcement

Europa, Jupiter's satellite, is hosting an ocean under the ice and water vapor erupting from the surface, said NASA astronomer from William Sparks, during a press teleconference. This means that there may exist extraterrestrial life. The discovery was made in 2013, but astronomers have taken three years to confirm and make a Inspection.

William Sparks said Europe is the second closest satellite of Jupiter, orbiting once every three days. ,, We obtained 10 images of Europe while in front of Jupiter's orbit, "said Sparks.

Observations made with the Hubble telescope, have revealed the discovery of vapor on the surface that could prove the existence of an ocean under the ice.

Brithney Schmidt, professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Science at the Institute of Technology in Atlanta, said on Europa was measured, its size is similar to our moon. In some areas the ice is broken, the majority of the planet is covered peaks. ,, It will be very difficult to penetrate the ice to reach the water, '' she said. Steam and could help researchers analyze the composition under the ice, without having to drill.

Jennifer Wiserman researcher in the project Hubble at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, says that Hubble was the only one who managed to investigate Jupiter and Europe at this level. The UV rays, water vapor were found on the surface of Europe. ,, We are excited at the thought that we will use the James Webb Space Telescope that will launch in 2018. It will study in more detail the fumes emitted by the satellite Europa. We are extremely interested in planets with characteristics similar to those of Earth '. Although the discovery vapor was conducted in 2013, one of the researchers said: ,, It took a lot of work to process images. After all the work we have already achieved results. It is not as if you take a picture, you need a lot of preparation. ''

'' The amount of material that would have produced steam at the level that I saw could be worth millions of kilograms, '' said William Sparks. Each tool analyzes the steam probe on the surface of Europa. There are a lot of assumptions that may explain the presence of water on Europa.

Among the tools that researchers have used to analyze Europe are UV, heat-sensitive instruments and compositional tools such as Cassini, which can fly through fog and steam can analyze the composition. Researchers said they still are not sure if steam comes from the evaporation of water beneath the frozen layer of Jupiter's moon.

Vapors are not necessarily placed in the poles, they appeared and disappeared, were present more often in equator. ,, We believe that the ship is made of hydrogen and oxygen, but more research will reveal us whether it is water vapor or not, '' said one of the researchers.

Researchers need to further investigate the existence of vapor to ensure that substances that are formed can support extraterrestrial life.
The discovery was made using images recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope.

In the teleconference attended by Paul Hertz, director of the Division of Astrophysics at the NASA headquarters in Washington, William Sparks, an astronomer at the Institute of Science in Baltimore, Brithney Schmidt, professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Science at the Institute of Technology Atlanta, and Jennifer Wiserman researcher in the project Hubble at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

Astrobiologists have said long before that Europe could support extraterrestrial life. In the story ,, 2001 A Space Odyssey '', Arthur C. Clarke said that Europe is a satellite of Jupiter with a diameter of 3,100 kilometers that could have a liquid ocean beneath its frozen surface. Also astrononii it believes that underground ocean is in connection with the rocky mantle and by contact might produce a chemical reaction that can create life.

The most interesting aspect is the fact that researchers who controls the Juno probe will not let her collapse on the satellite after the mission, as happened in other cases because they do not want contaminating Jupiter's moon.

Source: Wattsup with That

NASA will make important disclosures about Jupiter's moon, Europa

NASA will host a teleconference Monday, September 26, at 2 p.m. EDT (21:00 GMT) in which will present new discoveries about Jupiter's moon, Europa.

Following a campaign observation satellite, astronomers will present unique results that could reveal the presence of a subterranean ocean under the ice of Europe. The discovery was made using images recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope.

In the teleconference will be attended by Paul Hertz, director of the Division of Astrophysics at the NASA headquarters in Washington, William Sparks, an astronomer at the Institute of Science in Baltimore, Brithney Schmidt, professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Science at the Institute of Technology Atlanta, and Jennifer Wiserman researcher in the project Hubble at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

Astrobiologists have said long before that Europe could support extraterrestrial life. In the story ,, 2001 A Space Odyssey '', Arthur C. Clarke said that Europe is a satellite of Jupiter with a diameter of 3,100 kilometers that could have a liquid ocean beneath its frozen surface. Also astrononii it believes that underground ocean is in connection with the rocky mantle and by contact might produce a chemical reaction that can create life.


The most interesting aspect is the fact that researchers who controls the Juno probe will not let her collapse on the satellite after the mission, as happened in other cases because they do not want contaminating Jupiter's moon.


Source: Wattsup with That

NASA Sails Full-Speed Ahead in Solar System Exploration

Montage of planets.

Credits: NASA/JPL

NASA’s Juno is now poised to shine a spotlight on the origins and interior structure of the largest planet in our solar system. As we wait for Juno's first close-up images of Jupiter (to be taken Aug. 27 during the spacecraft's next pass by the planet), NASA continues to explore our solar system to help answer fundamental questions about how we came to be, where we are going and whether we are alone in the universe.

“Juno is the latest example of the extraordinary science we have to look forward to right in our own solar system,” said NASA Planetary Division Director Jim Green. “There are many uncharted, promising worlds and objects we are eager to explore with our current and future missions.”

The James Webb Space Telescope (Webb telescope), set to launch in 2018, can observe not only faint objects across the universe, but also all of our neighboring planets and their moons within our solar system. Webb’s angular and spectral resolution will allow us to observe these targets with unprecedented sensitivity and even follow geologic activity.

With Juno exploring Jupiter, NASA is also intrigued by its largest moons

Io’s intense geological activity makes it the most volcanically active world in the solar system, something Webb could potentially follow-up with. And NASA has selected nine science instruments for a future mission to investigate whether 

Europa -- a mysterious moon that scientists believe to have a liquid ocean beneath its icy surface -- hosts habitable environments.

Hubble, with its suite of upgraded instruments, has captured Jupiter’s auroras and found evidence of saltwater on Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede. The mission has been extended another five years, and NASA expects it to continue to provide excellent science

Titan is one of the major satellites of Saturn, with a rich atmosphere and surface chemistry that has been observed extensively by Cassini and ESA's Huygens Probe. After Cassini's mission ends, Webb will begin operations, providing an excellent platform for continuing studies of Titan with its unique new capabilities.

On July 14, NASA celebrated the one-year anniversary of New Horizons’ flyby of Pluto, which brought the world unprecedented views of the dwarf planet and its moon, Charon. The mission has been extended to study an object in the Kuiper belt, an icy field of early building blocks of the solar system packed with primordial organics.

NASA’s Dawn mission set out to investigate the solar system’s two largest asteroids remaining intact since their formation -- Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres. The mission has revealed strange, bright regions on Ceres with the highest concentration of carbonate minerals ever seen outside Earth.

In September, NASA will launch OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer), the first U.S. mission to a near-Earth asteroid (Bennu) to collect a sample for return to Earth in 2023.  OSIRIS-REx will help unlock secrets of the history of our solar system, and shed light on how life may have come to be on our planet. 

On our journey to Mars, we are closer than ever before to sending American astronauts to our neighboring Red Planet. The Opportunity and Curiosity rovers are traversing Martian soil, while MAVEN, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and Mars Odyssey are cruising the Martian skies above. They are helping uncover Mars’ past, present, and future by searching for clues in both the surface and the atmosphere.

The next Mars rover scheduled for launch in 2020 is under construction, and NASA’s InSight Mission to study the interior of the Red Planet is scheduled to launch in 2018.

“We are fortunate to live during a time when grand scientific quests are possible, and in a country that values curiosity and discovery as inherently noble pursuits,” says Paul Hertz, Astrophysics Division Director at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

NASA has recently directed nine planetary missions to plan for continued operations through fiscal years 2017 and 2018, contingent on available resources.

source NASA