Oxygen found on Jupiter’s satellite to support 1 million people – Kommersant

NASA received new information from the Juno probe suggests that every day enough oxygen is produced on Jupiter’s moon Europa to support about 1 million people. Scientists first thought about the possibility of oxygen forming on Europa after research by the Gallileo spacecraft, launched in 1989, but now Juno has strengthened researchers in the opinion that oxygen can enter Europa’s ocean.

Europe is covered in ice, which may harbor oceans and possibly some form of biological life. Oxygen is formed on Europa due to its bombardment by charged particles from Jupiter – the satellite is located in the radiation belts of the giant planet. With the help of radiation, molecules of water, that is, ice on the surface of the planet, can be split into hydrogen and oxygen, which is captured by the sensors of the probes. According to the results of Juno’s research, it turned out that Europe produces 12 kg of oxygen per second.

Studying oxygen production on Jupiter’s moon will be one of the tasks of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, which launches in October 2024. Upon arrival in the Jupiter system in 2030, the probe will have to find out whether Europa has conditions suitable for life.

Evgeniy Fedunenko