Aug 13 1996
From The Space Library
NASA released images from its Galileo spacecraft, indicating that water might have existed on Jupiter's moon Europa in the past, or might still exist there. According to scientists studying the images, Europa may have "warm ice" on its surface. Finding such ice would help scientists determine whether Europa's climate could support life. "What we are really looking for is niches that could support life," Ronald Greeley, a Galileo team scientist clarified, at a press briefing releasing the images. At first glance, the pictures, shot from a distance of about 95,700 miles (154,000 kilometers), seemed to depict a series of white stripes stretched across Europa's landscape. However, the stripes were actually ice glaciers, long of interest to scientists. Researchers had long suspected that Europa might be one of the places in the universe possessing water and, therefore, an environment that could support life. NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin expressed "skeptical optimism" at the Europa findings and urged the scientific community to examine the pictures further, in a tempered reaction similar to his stance regarding the discovery, one week earlier, of microbiological evidence of life on Mars.
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