WHAT LIES BENEATH

The European Space Agency’s JUICE mission aims to peer beneath the icy surfaces of Jupiter’s moons to determine whether something could be living in the waters below

- COLIN STUART

Deep beneath the salty ocean, the sea f loor is cracked. Hot gases from the layers below bubble into the water, sustaining colonies of microbial life that are eking out an existence far from the sunkissed surface.

This may sound like a scene from the bottom of Earth’s vast oceans, but it’s actually a possible description of Europa – one of the icy moons orbiting Jupiter. And thanks to the upcoming Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission, we may finally have the opportunity to find out how accurate that description is.

Astrobiologists – scientists who look for signs of life beyond the confines of our planet – have long adhered to a simple mantra: follow the water. That’s because every living thing on Earth, from the tiniest bacterium to the mighty blue whale, needs liquid water to survive. While alien life without water may be possible, looking for that molecular marriage between hydrogen and oxygen is an excellent place to start.