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By Dave Mosher
Two years before NASA destroyed its Cbadini spacecraft in the clouds of Saturn, the space agency flew the robot through ice geysers coming from the moon of the planet Enceladus
ocean of salt water hidden under the icy crust of the moon. Water infiltrates through the cracks of the Enceladus South Pole, where it infiltrates into the void of space and forms curtains of 300-mile ice particles. .
Scientists discover that NASA flew over in 1997 and a US $ 2 billion mission could soon "taste" signs of life
Since the Cbadini nuclear geyser-plunge in October 2015, scientists have scrutinized the mine's data probe. They found all kinds of eyebrow chemicals, including small organic molecules (containing carbon) such as acetylene, formaldehyde, methane and propane.
The frozen moons of the solar system hide so much liquid water. look like a desert planet
But this week, researchers announced the detection of long messy chains of organic molecules that could indicate habitable water. "We can not decide if the origin of this complex material is biotic or not, but there is an astrobiological potential," said Gizmodo Nozair Khawaja, a researcher at the University of Heidelberg. Extraterrestrial life can exist in our solar system – on one of Saturn's moons
could be signs of extraterrestrial microbial, although it is too much early to say it.
Khawaja and a multinational group of 20 other space scientists published a study in the journal Nature Wednesday on their discovery of organic molecules, which they call macromolecular compounds.
"The discovery of macromolecular compounds from a moderately warm water environment as moons as possible habitats for extraterrestrial life," said Mario Trieloff, another author of the study, in a press release
How Encelade could brew complex organic sludge
Recent studies using Cbadini's water spray data suggest that hydrogen is spewing out of the ocean floor of the moon, possibly from structures called hydrothermal vents. Khawaja said in the press release that gas bubbles that probably originate from the seabed of Enceladus "probably carry the molecules to the surface, where they form an organic film."
He added that the bubbles are hydrophobic or water-repellent. "From there, [the film] is launched into space with droplets of seawater."
Hydrothermal vents can produce hydrogen. They litter the seabed of the Earth near active volcanic areas, spilling hot water rich in nutrients that could make bastions of life. In fact, scientists announced in 2017 the discovery of fossils dating from 3.77 to 4.28 billion years old and coming from hydrothermal vents on Earth.
But the new study in Nature is far away.
The water is drawn to the heart of Enceladus and heated under pressure, so it is possible that the carbon found in Encelade since its formation (each world contains a little) reacts with the minerals to form more complex molecules. Ancient asteroids that drift in space also harbor complex organic molecules, but are almost certainly devoid of life.
Cbadini's instruments were not designed to badyze organic molecules of foreign or non-extraterrestrial origin. It may be decades before we know: There is not yet a funded mission to return to Enceladus, and the increasingly famous moon of Saturn is about 890 million miles away, so it can take almost seven years. ] Looking for signs of life in Europa
Those who hope to find signs of extraterrestrial life should not despair, however.
NASA and the European Space Agency plan to send spacecraft to the frozen moon of Jupiter Europa. This ice-covered world has an even larger underground ocean, sprays water and could also be rich in a soup of organic molecules that alien microbes could feed or generate.
The ESA probe, called Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE), is scheduled to launch in 2022 and reach Jupiter in 2030. The mission plans two flights from Europe to about 200 miles.
The other mission is Europa Clipper's probe of about $ 2 billion from NASA, which could be launched between 2022 and 2025 and arrive about five years later.
The Europa Clipper will make 47 flybys and will come within 20 miles of the surface of Europe. This would give the probe unprecedented access to plumes of water and the ability to sample water for salts, organic compounds and other chemicals. "The instruments are designed with Europa's plumes, to infer the composition of the oceans and so" Steve Vance, a global scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), told Business Insider.
Bob Pappalardo,
has already told Business Insider that oceans on moons like Europa may be the most common habitats for life that exists in the universe. "If life in Europa, it would almost certainly be an independently evolved lifestyle." Would it be using DNA or RNA? "Said Pappalardo. "Would he use the same chemistry to store and use energy? Discovering extraterrestrial life would revolutionize our understanding of biology."
See also:
Jeanette Epps is the first black astronaut of the Space Station
NASA Astronaut Tried SpaceX and Boeing 's New Space and Space Ships
More than a million space rocks could hit the Earth with more energy than ever before. a nuclear bomb
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