Jupiter and the chances of life on Europa

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Topic: Jupiter and the chances of life on Europa

SkyMan1958
Member

Posts: 867
From: CA.
Registered: Jan 2011

posted 08-25-2016 07:50 PM

One question I've had about possible life on the moon Europa is how does Jupiter's radiation belt affect subsurface conditions on Europa?

Does the ice surface of Europa shield the subsurface from radiation, or does the radiation affect all points on the Moon? Obviously, if we are worried about hardened electronics having issues in the proposed upcoming Europa mission, then something as "soft" as potential single cell life forms would be affected by Jupiter's radiation belt, unless the ice surface blocks the radiation. Thank you for your info!

randy
Member

Posts: 2176
From: West Jordan, Utah USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 08-25-2016 08:06 PM

I would think that the radiation does penetrate the ice and would affect what life, if any, inhabits the ocean under the ice.

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