NASA Finds More Evidence of Water Plumes on Jupiter's Moon Europa

(airy music)

[Narrator] Take a close look at Jupiter's icy moon Europa,

and you may see something special.

No it isn't some intergalactic sprinkler system.

It's a sign that maybe, just maybe,

we aren't alone out there.

Okay, hold that thought.

Before you get too excited, let's be clear.

NASA hasn't found any gangly bug-eyed inhabitants

here on Europa, but what they discovered is still important.

Using the Hubble Space Telescope,

scientists spotted what may be water vapor plumes

bursting out from Europa's icy surface.

These plumes erupt out of the ocean

hiding beneath Europa's shell.

So if there are any microbial Europians

lurking beneath the surface,

they may be a whole lot easier to reach now.

That's because we could potentially fly by,

and capture the ejected material,

rather than sending a craft to drill down into the surface.

And the excitement over this activity on Europa makes sense.

In our solar system, having any kind of ocean

makes you a member of a pretty exclusive club.

Europa may not have liquid on it's surface,

but beneath the ice there is likely an oxygen rich ocean

which would be more habitable

than the methane lakes on Saturn's moon Titan, for example.

So when it comes to incubators for alien life,

this icy real estate may be our best bet.