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Question
What is your opinion on life on Jupiter's moon, Europa? Ifthere is, where would it be, and what does science/you think it would be?
Europa is of great interest to astrobiologists because it is the only other world in our solar system known to have large quantities of liquid water -- an ocean that is substantially larger than that of our own planet Earth. It is of further interest because it seems unlikely that Europa has exchanged material with other planets, as Mars and Earth have done -- thus any life there probably had an independent origin from that of our own planet (sometimes called a "second genesis"). Of course, Europa is far away and difficult to study, and we have no evidence today concerning life there, either pro or con. We can only speculate about what life might have formed it its deep dark seas, or how that life might have evolved. Because there are limited energy sources on Europa (no sunlight penetrates the thick ice crust), any life would probably be microbial and have a slow metabolism -- perhaps like the life on Earth that can be found in rocks deep below the surface.
David Morrison
NAI Senior Scientist
September 30, 2003
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