Jupiter’s moon Europa has a subterranean ocean, a rocky seabed, and geothermal heat produced by Jupiter’s gravitational tides. Water, rock and heat were all that were required by LUCA, so could similar life also exist on Europa?NASA/JPL–Caltech/SETI Institute
A dramatic plume sprays water ice and vapor from the south polar region of Saturn's moon Enceladus. Cassini's first hint of this plume came during the spacecraft's first close flyby of the icy moon on February 17, 2005.NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
A new paper in Astrobiology summarizes findings of the NASA Outer Planets Assessment Group (OPAG) Roadmaps to Ocean Worlds (ROW) group. ROW was assembled to examine a scientific framework for the future exploration of ocean worlds, which is a primary target of interest for astrobiology. The work of ROW is designed to “identify ocean worlds, characterize their oceans, evaluate their habitability, search for life, and ultimately understand any life we find.”
NASA Ocean Worlds: Water in the Solar System and BeyondImage credit: NASA.
The report prioritizes science objectives in the coming decades, and is available from Astrobiology at: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/ast.2018.1955
More details on OPAG can be found at:
https://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/