Europa, one of Jupiter’s many moons, has been found to produce a staggering 1,000 tons of oxygen every day, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This amount of oxygen is enough to sustain a million humans on a daily basis. However, it is significantly less than what scientists had previously estimated. The discovery of this massive oxygen production has raised questions about the impact it may have on Europa’s underground ocean, which is believed to contain twice as much water as all of Earth’s oceans combined.
Europa, the sixth-closest moon to Jupiter, is slightly smaller than Earth’s moon and shares some similarities with our planet. It is believed to have a rocky mantle and an iron core. The recent findings, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, reveal that Europa produces approximately 26 pounds of oxygen every second. This is a significant decrease from the previous estimate of over 2,000 pounds per second.
The data used to make this new estimate was collected by NASA’s space probe Juno during its flyby of Europa in 2022. Juno brought a new capability to directly measure the composition of charged particles released from Europa’s atmosphere. Lead author James Szalay of Princeton University expressed excitement about the opportunity to explore this “water world” and the unexpected insights gained from Juno’s observations.
Despite the abundance of oxygen on Europa, it is not a safe place for human exploration due to intense radiation. Szalay explains that the radiation levels are so high that an astronaut within a spacesuit would not be able to survive more than a day on the moon’s surface. Therefore, the challenges of radiation exposure outweigh the need for oxygen in this environment.
The significance of understanding the amount of water and oxygen on Jupiter lies in unraveling the planet’s formation process and how heavy elements were transferred across the solar system. These heavy elements played a crucial role in the existence of rocky planets like Earth and the potential for life. By studying Jupiter, which serves as an exemplary gas giant, scientists hope to gain insights into the hundreds of giant planets discovered orbiting other stars.
In pursuit of further exploration, NASA plans to launch the Europa Clipper mission on October 10, 2024. This mission aims to conduct detailed reconnaissance of Europa and investigate whether the icy moon could harbor conditions suitable for life. Europa is considered the most promising place in our solar system to find present-day environments that could support life beyond Earth.
The discovery of Europa’s massive oxygen production opens up new avenues for scientific exploration and raises intriguing questions about the moon’s potential habitability. While human exploration may be challenging due to radiation levels, the ongoing research and upcoming missions offer hope for uncovering the mysteries of this fascinating moon and its potential for extraterrestrial life.