CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) 鈥 New research suggests there's less oxygen on the icy surface of Jupiter's moon Europa than thought 鈥 and that could affect what if any life might be lurking in the moon鈥檚 underground ocean.
Even with little or no oxygen, microbes might still be bustling around in the ocean believed to exist miles (kilometers) beneath Europa鈥檚 frozen crust. As for what else, 鈥渨ho knows,鈥 said NASA scientist Kevin Hand, who was not involved in the study published Monday in Nature Astronomy.
More work is needed to confirm these findings, which are contrary to earlier telescope observations of condensed oxygen in Europa鈥檚 ice, indicating a higher oxygen concentration, said Hand.
The new study is based on data collected by NASA鈥檚 Juno spacecraft during a particularly close flyby of Europa in 2022 鈥 a distance of just 219 miles (353 kilometers).
A U.S.-European team calculated that between 13 pounds and 39 pounds (6 kilograms and 18 kilograms) of oxygen are produced every second at Europa鈥檚 surface.
Previous estimates had a much wider spread, with as much as 2,245 pounds (1,100 kilograms) of oxygen produced per second. So 鈥渦nless Europa's oxygen production was significantly higher in the past,鈥 the new measurements provide 鈥渁 narrower range to support habitability,鈥 the researchers wrote.
This oxygen is formed, along with hydrogen, as Jupiter鈥檚 radiation blasts Europa鈥檚 global shell of frozen water.
Lead author James Szalay of Princeton University said Juno鈥檚 flyby was the first time a spacecraft 鈥渄irectly sniffed鈥 Europa鈥檚 surroundings. 鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 wait to peek behind the curtain of its complex environment,鈥 he said in an email.
While it鈥檚 鈥渁 significantly narrower range than we previously thought, there鈥檚 still a lot we can learn,鈥 Szalay said.
It鈥檚 unknown how much oxygen escapes into the moon鈥檚 atmosphere, how much remains in the ice and how much might find its way to the subterranean sea.
NASA plans to launch the Europa Clipper this fall. The spacecraft will make dozens of close flybys of Europa 鈥 nearly the size of our moon 鈥 while orbiting the giant gas planet.
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