Considering potential sites for extraterrestrial life, one might naturally think of Mars or distant exoplanets. However, the more promising locations seem to be the icy moons orbiting gas giants within the Solar System, such as Enceladus and Europa.
A recent study, titled "How to identify cell material in a single ice grain emitted from Enceladus or Europa" published in Science Advances, suggests that we could discover alien life as early as 2030. Laboratory tests have shown that instruments on spacecraft bound for these moons possess the sensitivity to detect a single living cell within a lone ice grain.
Europa Clipper Could Hunt for Extraterrestrial Life
NASA is preparing to launch the Europa Clipper spacecraft later this year, aimed at exploring Jupiter's moon, Europa, to gain insights into its conditions.
The mission involves orbiting and analyzing Europa, with the spacecraft swooping as close as 25 km above the surface to conduct detailed mapping of its composition and geology. Additionally, it will gather data on the moon's internal ocean and analyze grains of ice and dust that may be ejected in plumes.
Although not specifically intended as a mission to search for extraterrestrial life, recent research suggests that the Europa Clipper could still make groundbreaking discoveries in this regard. An instrument onboard the spacecraft has the potential to directly detect cellular material emitted from Europa, raising hopes for the detection of life.
Scheduled for launch in October and expected to reach Europa by 2030, the Europa Clipper mission will conduct flybys of the moon, although it will not land on its surface. Equipped with ten experiments, including the SUrface Dust Analyser (SUDA), the spacecraft aims to study Europa's internal structure, assess the chemistry of its ocean, and evaluate its potential habitability for life beyond Earth.
One of these experiments, the SUDA, utilizes mass spectrometry to analyze material ejected from Europa's surface, potentially revealing crucial chemical compositions, including organic molecules and salts.
While not originally designed for life detection, researchers have now demonstrated the instrument's capability to detect fragments of cellular material, offering tantalizing prospects for the discovery of extraterrestrial life.
Simulation Shows How Europa Clipper's Instruments Will Find Extraterrestrial Life
Europa's allure stems from its suspected subterranean saltwater ocean beneath a robust icy exterior, complemented by an encircling layer of ice grains and dust, remnants of past meteorite impacts. To assess the potential presence of microbial life, researchers led by teams from the University of Washington and the Freie Universität Berlin simulated Europa Clipper's data collection process.
They replicated the spacecraft's encounter with Europa's plumes by directing a liquid water beam into a vacuum and then analyzing the resulting droplets with mass spectrometry to identify microbial constituents.
In this experiment, common cold-adapted bacteria like Sphingopyxis alaskensis stood in for potential extraterrestrial life forms. These microbes, encapsulated within a lipid membrane, could theoretically hitch rides on ice grains ejected from Europa's ocean into space, where Europa Clipper's mass spectrometer might detect their signature fatty acids and lipids.
The study's lead author, Fabian Klenner, emphasized the significance of identifying stable fatty acids, expressing optimism that future instruments could identify lifeforms akin to those on Earth, heightening anticipation for Europa Clipper's arrival in 2030.
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