Astrobiologists believe that the moons are the most promising locations for extraterrestrial life in our Solar System, based on recent discoveries. In order to look for signs of life there, a number of significant space missions are currently being planned for the upcoming ten years.
Some of the moons have an abundance of liquid water, in contrast to our neighboring planets. For instance, Europa, Jupiter’s moon, is believed to have more liquid water than all of Earth’s oceans put together. This water, as well as any life within it, is shielded from asteroid strikes and cosmic radiation by a dense.
On October 14, a mission to determine whether Europa possesses circumstances conducive to life is scheduled to launch. The results of NASA’s Clipper mission, which will take six years to reach the moon, have the potential to fundamentally alter our knowledge of the solar system.
