Search for extraterrestrial life on Jupiter's moons sends NASA to Europa

Criss-cross: Europa has a surface of ice and minerals, criss-crossed by dark streaks of unknown material. Beneath it, many scientists believe, there may lie an ocean of water of unknown acidity or salinity where life could have evolved. Photo: EPA/Nasa

When Galileo viewed Jupiter through his telescope in 1610, he saw four dim objects near it that he assumed were stars. Repeated observations revealed that these “stars” orbited Jupiter like our own moon circles Earth. Thus began over 400 years of observations of Jupiter’s moons, which now number 67. 

But if experts who gathered recently at NASA’s Ames Research Centre are successful, by mid-century we may see one of these moons in a whole new light.