Europe: Ingredients for Life

National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM THERE IS AN OCEAN TWICE THE SIZE OF ALL OF EARTH'S OCEANS COMBINED. EUROPA WATER WORLD IS IT INHABITED? SUN MERCURY VENUS EARTH MARS SATURN URANUS NEPTUNE MOON OF JUPITER Diameter: 12,742 km Diameter: 3,120 km Average Ocean Depth: - 100 km Average Ocean Depth: -4 km Volume: -1.4 billion km Volume: -3 billion km3 Liquid Saltwater Sub-Surface Ocean EARTH EUROPA Liquid Saltwater Surface Ocean EARTH's surface is EUROPA's surface is covered in a global water ice crust. Estimates range from 3 km - 30 km thick. 29% land 71% liquid water Ice Crust Polar Ice Cap Regional Liquid Salt Water Ocean Global Liquid Salt Water Ocean Rocky Sea Floor Rocky Sea Floor SO WHY DOES THIS MATTER? BECAUSE EARTH'S OCEANS ARE TEEMING WITH LIFE! THE OCEANS ARE HOME TO: ON EARTH, 50 - 80% of all life on Earth WHEREVER WE FIND WATER, At least 224,000 named species Plants, bacteria, fungi, reptiles, mammals, reefs, algae, fish, mollusks and many more Extremophiles, surviving from the freezing temperatures below arctic sea ice to the boiling temperatures near deep sea hydrothermal vents WE FIND LIFE. AND EUROPA HAS TWICE THE WATER OF EARTH. So... IS THERE LIFE? europa.jpl.nasa.gov