New findings about Jupiter's intriguing moon Europa.

Scientists will announce new findings about Jupiter's intriguing moon Europa during a NASA press conference Wednesday (Nov. 16) You can watch it live here on nasa tv:www.nasa.gov...
The list of speakers will include-

- Britney Schmidt, postdoctoral fellow, Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin
- Tori Hoehler, astrobiologist and senior research scientist, NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
- Louise Prockter, planetary scientist, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.
- Tom Wagner, program scientist, cryospheric sciences, Earth Science Division, NASA Headquarters

Im not sure what the announcement will involve, maybe they have found some traces of microbial life in its thin atmosphere or on its icy surface, should be interesting at least. Europa is one of the most strange and beautiful objects in the solar system.

reply to post by Atzil321


Dont expect anything significant. Each and every one of these pre-announcements has got people excited, but when the press release came, it turned out to be nothing really.

reply to post by Atzil321


well well well...

examinig the speakers I can tell that it might be some news regarding possibility of life on Europa

Astrobiology

Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. This interdisciplinary field encompasses the search for habitable environments in our Solar System and habitable planets outside our Solar System, the search for evidence of prebiotic chemistry, laboratory and field research into the origins and early evolution of life on Earth, and studies of the potential for life to adapt to challenges on Earth and in outer space. Astrobiology addresses the question of whether life exists beyond Earth, and how humans can detect it if it does.[2] (The term exobiology is similar but more specific — it covers the search for life beyond Earth, and the effects of extraterrestrial environments on living things)[3]

Good find.. S n F...

Although i wont be holding my breath, as always with these announcements they generally seem to be a bit of a let down in regards to the discovery of life..

Personally I have always thought any major announcement regarding life outside our planet will come from the white house or the president.,.

But who knows ill be watching this one closely ...


I have heard of one of the scientists involved.. lou allamandola is world renowned in this field and an expert on interstellar material among other things..

Lou Allamandola is an internationally acclaimed scientist whose work in support of NASA missions and programs has revolutionized our understanding of interstellar materials. He is a pioneer in laboratory astrophysics having developed the techniques by which to study materials in the laboratory under realistic interstellar and interplanetary conditions. Dr. Allamandola was among the first to hypothesize that infrared emission from a population of vibrationally excited, gas-phase Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) could account for the so-called discrete infrared emission bands. The emission of PAH molecules is now widely used as a probe of physical and chemical conditions throughout our galaxy and local Universe. His work on PAHs has had no less than a profound effect on astrophysics. He has also made fundamental contributions to NASA space science missions, as well as mentoring the next generation of space scientists.

amesteam.arc.nasa.gov...

Whilst looking up the other scientists i found an interview with Brittany Schmidt.. Here is an excerpt which is relevant to this..

I am a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Geophysics of the University of Texas at Austin (UTIG) working on ice penetrating radar to study geophysical evolution of ices on Europa and in Antarctica.

link to full interview

and louise proctor is an expert in planetary geology..

She is a well-known geologist with a long history in studying the surfaces of planetary and small bodies, particularly of Mercury, the asteroid 433 Eros, and Jupiter’s satellites Europa and Ganymede. This work has resulted in an impressive list of first authored and co-authored publications in the most prominent peer-reviewed journals. She has also served on numerous NASA and other committees and panels, including current roles on the NASA Planetary Science Subcommittee and the NRC Planetary Decadal Survey.

www.jhuapl.edu...

With this line up it is actually looking highly unlikely it will involve the discovery of life.. It will more than likely involve the geology or the make up of the small moon...


Although having said that.... this guy has grabbed my attention..

Dr. Tori Hoehler
Astrobiologist/
Oceanographer/
Chemist

I work in the astrobiology program, which is the part of NASA that’s interested in looking for life on other worlds. The work I do is mostly microbiology, because we think that if we are able to find life on other worlds, it is most likely to be something like the bacteria we have here on Earth. I try to figure out how the microbes that live here on Earth change their environment in ways that might be detected from far away in space. That kind of information will eventually help us to collect data from other worlds and use it to say whether or not there is life on those worlds.

Now im definitely intrigued...

Perhaps they have found a mountain on Europa that is composed of pure diamond.

Originally posted by jcord
Perhaps they have found a mountain on Europa that is composed of pure diamond.

I love A.C. Clark myself

I'm just hoping they announce ANYTHING that is exciting news about Europa. Not the normal bland announcements normally made. I wonder when the E.T. rumors will start?

reply to post by Atzil321


They'll probably find something related to "water" and "possibility of life" on Europa as usual.

Bare in mind:

NASA = Never a Straight Answer

reply to post by Atzil321


The latest buzz is that NASA has discovered that Europa is actually a moon-sized egg that will hatch in 2012. The liquid under the icy shell is actually embryonic in nature. Some scientists suspect that a plasma entity resembling the Mayan flying serpent god Quetzlquotyl (various spellings) will emerge into the inner solar system and perhaps attempt to connect with its ancestral worshippers, the Mayans, who are no longer thriving now as they once did. The plasma entity will then remain in our upper atmosphere causing severe weather systems to form across the planet (like in Star Trek IV) until we can find a way to communicate with it. Unfortunately, humpback whales probably won't do the trick this time.

reply to post by Firefly_


If you're an astrobiologist or astrophysicist, the news is extremely exciting.

If you're a conspiracy nut waiting for complete disclosure, of course the news will be nothing special...

I'm puzzled at what provides any real new news about Europa since there are no probes nearby. It's long been theorized tidal heating below the frozen crust could harbor a liquid water ocean. Long story short its also believed that relentless bombardment of radiation from Jupiter could cause surface chemical reactions to promote carbon binding organic based molecules and oxidants, for instance formaldehyde that could feed subsurface bacteria. But where would new data come from? But surface chemical reactions would do no good unless they can reach the subsurface ocean, deep fissures would be necessary for and we are talking 50 to 100 miles of a crust thickness.

I'm wondering if spacecraft JUNO which is approaching the orbit of Mars directly between Earth and Jupiter has gathered any new readings of any value. Take a look here where JUNO is right now. (man does Mars have an eccentric orbit).

Where is JUNO now?

Any thoughts?

Originally posted by Chadwickus
reply to post by Firefly_

 

If you're an astrobiologist or astrophysicist, the news is extremely exciting.

If you're a conspiracy nut waiting for complete disclosure, of course the news will be nothing special...

edit on 16/11/11 by Chadwickus because: (no reason given)

That pretty much sums it up..Thank you Sir ..

The Heavy stuff will never come voluntarily

Europa !!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jupiter's Moon Europa Has Enough Oxygen For Life

New research suggests that there is plenty of oxygen available in the subsurface ocean of Europa to support oxygen-based metabolic processes for life similar to that on Earth. In fact, there may be enough oxygen to support complex, animal-like organisms with greater oxygen demands than microorganisms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Europa Jupiter's Moon - facebook Page

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Europa Facts

- Europa is the sixth moon in distance from the planet Jupiter and the fourth largest.

- Europa's diameter is 1,940 miles (3,122 kilometers), slightly smaller than Earth's moon.

- Europa takes three and a half days to orbit Jupiter at an average distance of 416,900 miles (670,900 kilometers).

- The same tidal forces found on Io also apply to Europa. Jupiter's huge gravitational force heats up Europa's interior, melting the ice underneath its surface producing a salty ocean which could be as much as 62 miles (100 km) deep.

- There is possibly twice as much liquid water on Europa as there is on Earth.

- The darker areas on Europa's surface are suggestive of microbial life.

- Europa is thought to have an iron core just like Earth.

- The moon was discovered in January 1610 by the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei.

- Europa is sometimes referred to as Jupiter II (Jupiter 2).

Jupiter Moon Europa

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hubble Finds Oxygen Atmosphere On Jupiter's Moon Europa

Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) have identified the presence of an extremely tenuous atmosphere of molecular oxygen around Jupiter's second moon, Europa. The planets Mars and Venus are the only two other solar system objects beyond Earth known to have traces of molecular oxygen in their atmospheres.

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drums rolling pls for the new news to be made public..any news..small as it might be..is a step closer to uncover what is hidden beneath the glacial surface of this wonderful planet

reply to post by Atzil321


Thank you for the interesting news..will we be shown images of a Monolith (kidding ofcourse)
SnF

Originally posted by wutz4tom
reply to post by Atzil321

 

Thank you for the interesting news..will we be shown images of a Monolith

(kidding ofcourse)
SnF

If NASA ever officially announces a monolith, or bonafide life on another planet, or even the moon. Get ready, because chaos will soon follow.

Originally posted by Klassified

Originally posted by wutz4tom
reply to post by Atzil321

 

Thank you for the interesting news..will we be shown images of a Monolith

(kidding ofcourse)
SnF

If NASA ever officially announces a monolith, or bonafide life on another planet, or even the moon. Get ready, because chaos will soon follow.

Reply from Wutz4tom

Agreed....if We were to be let in on something that significant...we Are almost certainly in for it. There is a reason for everything..Or perhaps an all out attempt to take control knowing that they would soon loose all control..

Originally posted by heineken

...

Looks like that moon has red tide.

2nd.

reply to post by GhostLancer


Holy crap !
That's exactly what's gonna happen.
Exactly.

They will never disclose anything publicly that will cause people to not want to pay their bills or go to work anymore, so doubtful on the space egg theory.

They will most likely say stuff like, "possibly, maybe, could have, could be, might have, might be, more study needed, and we found something somewhere insignificant..."

Originally posted by Chadwickus
reply to post by Firefly_

 

If you're an astrobiologist or astrophysicist, the news is extremely exciting.

If you're a conspiracy nut waiting for complete disclosure, of course the news will be nothing special...

edit on 16/11/11 by Chadwickus because: (no reason given)

I wasn't aware that people who like to see outside the box are nuts. Nice to know it now.

What time is the press release ? Nasas website has no mention of any of it !