Europa and Enceladus

Europa and Enceladus

Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons and Enceladus, a moon of Saturn will be important objectives for future space exploration.

Data from past space missions show that an ocean of liquid water could exist under Europa’s icy crust. In 2007, the NASA Cassini mission found evidence of cold geysers of water issuing from Enceladus, possibly fueled by liquid reservoirs tens of metres beneath its icy surface.

In recent years, bacteria found on Earth in the Antarctic have been brought back to life by warming them after thousands of years of immersion in ice. Scientists are keen to investigate if similar physical and biological conditions exist on Europa and Enceladus.

For more information on Enceladus, please click on the following link: Enceladus, Cassini-Huygens.

For more information on Europa, please click on the following link: Europa, NASA image.