NASA says it may find signs of alien life within 10-20 years. Here's where
Meteorologist/Science Writer
Wednesday, April 8, 2015, 7:05 PM - Where could life exist beyond Earth? Besides finding it on planets around other stars, our solar system is so 'awash' in water that Earth may not be the only inhabited world orbiting our own star!
To discover where we may find our nearest neighbours, let's take a tour around the solar system, to the various 'water worlds' we either know about or we speculate may fall into that category.
Earth
We're all familiar with this one, of course, but it's a good starting off point - not only since it the starting point of our explorations of the solar system, but also as a comparison for the other water worlds out there.
Asteroid Belt
Although signs of water have certainly been detected on Mars, we need to go one step further out to find the next 'water world' candidate. Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt, is a dwarf planet currently under investigation by NASA's Dawn spacecraft. Set to begin its science phase on April 23, after it achieves a close orbit around the dwarf planet, Dawn may discover evidence of a subsurface ocean under Ceres' crust.
RELATED: What's Up In Space? What you need to know on the weird bright 'lights' on Ceres
Jupiter
Jupiter has a total of 67 known moons - more than any other planet in the solar system - and of those, three are thought to have oceans underneath their icy exteriors. One of those three has even given us tantalizing evidence that there is a relatively warm, salty ocean there, which would be an ideal place for life to develop!
RELATED: Astronomers perform 'MRI' to find subsurface ocean on Jupiter's moon, Ganymede
Saturn
Saturn may come in second for number of moons, but it has the same number of potential water worlds as Jupiter. Another aspect these moons share with those of the King of the Solar System ... it's not the largest of them that has the best chances for life!
RELATED: This nuclear-powered NASA sub may someday explore the seas of Saturn's moon, Titan
Neptune
Skipping over the tilted world of Uranus (although two of its largest moons, Titania and Oberon, are thought to harbour subsurface oceans), we come to Neptune's Triton. This icy moon has provided scientists with much more direct evidence of what may lie under its surface.
RELATED: Are two massive planets lurking beyond the orbit of Pluto?
Pluto
Even distant Pluto, which we will soon see in closeup, thanks to NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, so far away from the Sun's warmth, could have a subsurface ocean.
RELATED: What's Up In Space? 85 years after Pluto's discovery, a spacecraft spies its tiny moons
"NASA science activities have provided a wave of amazing findings related to water in recent years that inspire us to continue investigating our origins and the fascinating possibilities for other worlds, and life, in the universe," Ellen Stofan, NASA's chief scientist, said on Tuesday. "In our lifetime, we may very well finally answer whether we are alone in the solar system and beyond."
Sources: NASA JPL | NASA JPL/Kim Orr
