At some point, all of us have wondered whether life exists beyond the Earth. And while we are yet to come across any concrete evidence, scientific discoveries suggest that it is possible for life to exist on two nearby celestial bodies namely, Europa and Enceladus. Essentially, the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon called Europa has ample amounts of oxygen while the ice and water spewed out by Saturn’s satellite Enceladus contains phosphorus - a vital element for life - according to a report by Gizmodo. Furthermore, a recent experiment conducted by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) found that if living organisms do exist on these moons, it is likely that they will be found closer to the surface despite high radiation levels. Where to look for signs of alien life? Organic molecules like amino acids or nucleic acids could qualify as signs that life exists on the surface of these moons. To aid in the detection of life on the two moons, NASA space scientist Alexander Pavlov and his team conducted an experiment where they mixed amino acids with -321 degree Fahrenheit ice as well as silicate dust, sealed the samples in airless vials, and bombarded them with gamma radiation. The results of the experiment showed that the degradation of amino acids in such a simulation took place at a slow rate. This means that rovers delivered to either of these two moons may not have to drill too deep from the surface in order to find signs of life. “Based on our experiments, the ‘safe’ sampling depth for amino acids on Europa is almost 8 inches at high latitudes of the trailing hemisphere (hemisphere opposite to the direction of Europa’s motion around Jupiter) in the area where the surface hasn’t been disturbed much by meteorite impacts,” said Pavlov said in a press release. “Slow rates of amino acid destruction in biological samples under Europa and Enceladus-like surface conditions bolster the case for future life-detection measurements by Europa and Enceladus lander missions,” he added. However, no such life-finding mission to Europa or Enceladus is currently scheduled.
