Can life be found elsewhere in the universe?
Scientists extend one step from discovering whether the Earth’s speeches alone are in the universe, as the largest spacecraft in NASA and the most technologically advanced, a Europe vehicle, which was launched on October 14. The scissors will go to the Europa, one of the components of Jupiter 95, to see if this common body carries the situations of life here in Earth.
Clipper is 10 years in making, it will take 5 and a half years to reach Europe. Over the course of 49 Flybys that will take 3 and a half years, Clipper will send data that allow scientists to examine the oceans of Europe, rocks and air. Scientists believe that the oceans, in particular, are similar to Earth and will be a good indication of the possibility of life there.
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The launch of the Clipper Europa mission into a heavenly body is likely to be valid for housing – Jupiter’s moon – is a jump forward in seeking to answer one of the greatest human questions: Is there a life outside the earth?
Irene Leonard It has been part of the Clipper mission since its establishment. The geological world of planets and Clipper project scientists spoke with the screen about science and the goals of the task, and what everything means for humanity.
The discussion was edited for clarity and length.
What are you looking for exactly? What will indicate the circumstances of life?
There is this question about whether you have a kind of cycling in Europe that may be able to preserve life.
The simplest way I explain is: Water Plus Rock Plus Energy Plus Time. We have water, we think it is like the ocean water on the ground. We believe that there is an internal rock – the essence of Europe – in contact with this ocean below the surface of the earth. This water rock reaction is what results from that chemistry you need for life. This is how we believe that life originated on Earth; In these hills in the middle of the ocean on the ground where you have the ocean water in contact with the rocks, in contact with the heat and magma that comes out of the inside.
EUROPA energy is created through its elliptical orbit a little around Jupiter. It causes almost to breathe Europe or bending, and that the fold generates a lot of heat inside the rocky interior and then it should come out. We believe that all of this was boiling together for 4 billion years. We do not know the time it takes. It can be immediate. It can be a billion years. For this reason it is important to have a time component.
What are the questions about the pledge?
Many of this revolves around stability and composition of the ocean. We think it is salty. We don’t know exactly what the salts are there or there is also membership there. This is a really important chemical piece for the ability to live. If you think about it, life may be able to grow up, then eat everything. If these nutrients are not updated, you will die. Thus, there should be a cycle, and a nutritious cycle also inside Europe. We believe this may come from the small surface.
EUROPA surface is very small, aged about 100 million years. The Earth’s age ranges from 200 to 300 million years. We believe that there can be some of the essence of the layers in which it occurs [Europa’s] An ice shell refreshes the surface. Oxidation is produced in the harsh radiation environment in reality the oxidizing materials on the surface, which can then be transferred in the ice shell and then to the ocean. This may provide this nutrient conveyor belt, if desired, to help update the nutrients in the ocean that may maintain life.
What does this mean to us on Earth if life can be found on other planets, other satellites?
It is a great big question: Are we alone? I think it is amazing from the basic perspective of humanity and also from a very scientific perspective. We have one data point for life in the universe. We do not know if we are unique and unique, or if we are more common than we thought.
If we consider Europe as usual, we need to go and understand whether it is already inhabited, right? There are important effects. If it is inhabited, we may understand how life arises and perhaps we are not alone in the universe. Perhaps life is really common. This would detonate my mind, right? And if it is not a residence, but we consider it to be residence, we may miss anything. We may not know how life really originated on Earth. We miss some piece to the puzzle. It is really difficult when you have only one data point of Earth to understand how life arises, as life may arise, and therefore if we are united in our solar system or alone in the universe.
There is also this biggest philosophical question about whether we are ever understanding life. Should life arise in a way that arose on Earth?
Jpl-caltech/SWRI/MSSS/NASA
What is the most looking to discover it?
I am excited about answers to the questions that we do not know yet. We believe that we know some things about Europe. But we will learn a lot and discover a lot of things with these capable and very amazing spacecraft that I don’t even know these questions yet.
This is the task of generations. Not only do that to ourselves, but do so for the next generation. I can use Voyageer 2 and Galileo data, which is 50 years and 20 years. Not only do such tasks for our scientific curiosity, but also to produce these data groups that will continue for future generations. This is also very cool to think. It is an exciting responsibility. It is also a great responsibility to ensure that you are producing these data collections that will be valuable for future generations.