New Discoveries About Jupiter's Moon Europa to Be Announced
Wednesday Scientists will announce new findings about Jupiter's
intriguing moon Europa during a NASA press conference Wednesday
(Nov. 16). One of the moon's most exciting features is an ocean
of salty water thought to exist beneath its frozen surface.
Because liquid water is thought to be necessary for life, many
researchers hope microbial organisms may survive in this buried
sea. Overall, Europa is slightly smaller than Earth's moon, and
is thought to have an iron core and a rocky mantle. Speakers at
the 1 p.m. EST briefing 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 The even