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The planetary system has a few “key areas” where existence may have formerly flourished, or could yet thrive currently.(Image credit: NEMES LASZLO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images)ShareShare by:
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Who hasn’t peered into the heavens and pondered if there is life elsewhere, someplace, watching back at us? Could there be extraterrestrial life nearer to us — contained within our solar system?
In short, the answer is yes, there exist various locations scientists are exploring for indications of life within our solar system, and a few clues suggest existence might be concealed in unexpected spots.
Is there life on Mars?
Even though no “little green men” appear to be living on Mars, it’s conceivable that microbial life existed in the ancient past. Currently, Mars is a chilly wasteland, but thanks to Mars rovers that have scrutinized the planet’s rocks, we now understand that a long time ago, it possessed liquid water — a critical prerequisite for life.
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“The Curiosity rover’s purpose was to seek out habitable zones, the kind that might have bolstered microbial life on Mars previously, supposing existence ever emerged on the Red Planet,” Amy Williams, a geology professor at the University of Florida and a member of both NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance science teams, stated. “Curiosity’s payload was selected to achieve this objective by searching for the conditions we recognize that life on Earth requires — liquid water, a carbon source, and chemical energy to facilitate metabolism,” she mentioned to Live Science.
Beyond examining the Martian environment, the Perseverance rover is amassing encouraging rock specimens for return to Earth for sophisticated examination. The Mars Sample Return undertaking is presently being created by NASA and ESA to journey to Mars, gather the sample cores, and convey them back to Earth. (However, the Donald Trump administration has suggested decreasing NASA funding to finance this undertaking.)
“At least one of the collected cores displays qualities that align with the definition of a potential indicator of ancient microbial existence,” Williams communicated regarding a particularly fascinating rock specimen. “Returning specimens to Earth via the Mars Sample Return design would allow us to tackle some of humanity’s most fundamental inquiries, including whether we are solitary in the cosmos.”
Could life be hiding in Venus’ atmosphere? Could there be life on Venus?
Despite the fact that it’s frequently dubbed Earth’s “twin,” Venus likely isn’t the primary location where anyone would seek life in the solar system. Its surface temperature is elevated enough to liquefy lead, and the mean surface pressure surpasses that of Earth by a factor of more than 90. It is swathed in thick, concentrated clouds largely consisting of sulfuric acid, a powerfully corrosive substance that, when blended with water, generates acid rain on Earth, impacting vegetation, wildlife, and soil.
In spite of those unwelcoming circumstances, extremophile microbial life may be able to endure at great heights within Venus’ atmosphere, where temperatures and pressures aren’t as extreme; perhaps life might devise strategies to shield itself from sulfuric acid’s damaging characteristics. To ascertain this, MIT is assembling the Morning Star Missions, which will journey into Venus’ atmosphere with the principal aim of amassing a specimen from the planet’s clouds and conveying it back to Earth for enhanced scrutiny.
“Microbial existence could occur in Venus’s clouds, irrespective of their concentrated sulfuric acid makeup,” Sara Seager, a professor at MIT and the head of the Morning Star Missions, informed Live Science. “Should we uncover convincing evidence of existence on Venus, it would overturn our comprehension of habitability and demonstrate that existence can thrive in non-water solvents, broadening the array of worlds where existence is viable.”
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When seeking life, scientists often prioritize the quest for liquid water, as it’s a requisite for existence on Earth. Unearthing existence on Venus would shatter this constraint — implying extraterrestrial life could be far more peculiar than we’ve contemplated and that there might exist a greater quantity of places to explore for it.
In 2020, the conceivable detection of phosphine gas in Venus’ clouds turned into the focal point of contention regarding indications of life on Venus. Phosphine gas came as a surprise, considering the majority of recognized chemical processes that yield it stem from living organisms or excessive pressures on gas giants. Nevertheless, the signal remained minute, and critics contended it might have been noise within the data. The Morning Star Missions directed towards Venus will furnish us with considerably more insights into the planet’s chemistry and potentially affirm the presence of phosphine drifting within the clouds.
Could life be hiding in a subsurface ocean on Europa? Is there life on the moons of Saturn and Jupiter?
Venturing farther outwards into the solar system, several moons orbit Saturn and Jupiter that could conceivably accommodate life, especially Enceladus and Europa.
Saturn’s moon Enceladus harbors a universal subsurface ocean obscured beneath a dense icy shell. The moon ceaselessly expels enormous plumes of saline water into space, affording scientists a unique opportunity to directly sample the interior of a celestial object aside from Earth. The Cassini undertaking executed multiple flybys of Enceladus spanning 2005 to 2017, gathering images and even immediate specimens from the plumes that remain under investigation. A 2023 article featured in Nature declared the detection of phosphates on Enceladus by scientists — signifying that scientists have now pinpointed all the fundamental chemical constituents for existence within the moon’s ocean.
Various endeavors to scrutinize astrobiology on Enceladus, centered on amassing further specimens from the plumes, have been underway by groups at ESA and NASA, though they persist far from attaining the launch pad.
Analogous to Enceladus, Jupiter’s moon Europa constitutes an icy world encompassing a universal subsurface ocean, alongside water plumes gushing from its surface. Jupiter’s immense gravitational tug on the moon begets energy and motion, invigorating vibrant geological activity and thought to be the chief impetus behind the ocean’s warmth, sufficient for it to remain liquid. Interactions transpiring between the saline ocean and the rocky interior could plausibly sustain existence mirroring that discovered enveloping hydrothermal vents on Earth.
ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) was initiated on April 14, 2023, with an anticipated rendezvous with Jupiter in July 2031, where it shall scrutinize Jupiter along with three of its moons: Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede. NASA’s Europa Clipper mission commenced on Oct. 14, 2024, intent on reaching Jupiter in 2030 and undertaking flybys of Europa to ascertain whether conditions conducive to existence are extant.
Titan, another satellite of Saturn, manifests as an immensely unparalleled locale within the solar system. It exhibits a methane cycle analogous to Earth’s water cycle, coupled with a dense atmosphere comprised of nitrogen and methane. The Cassini mission conducted in excess of 50 flybys of Titan spanning 2004 through 2017, and it launched the Huygens probe, which touched down on the moon’s surface in 2005. These dual missions harvested data implying Titan’s atmosphere might likely engender intricate molecules serving as the building blocks for existence. NASA is presently curating a car-sized octocopter purposed to navigate Titan and amass specimens across diverse landing zones.
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Numerous additional locations within the solar system may potentially harbor existence, including dwarf planets such as Ceres. Ceres is speculated to contain a substantial quantity of liquid water under an icy and rocky crust, thanks to imagery captured by NASA’s Dawn undertaking, which explored it in 2015.
The more we probe the solar system, the greater number of places we stumble upon that exhibit conditions adequate to support existence. Supposing existence exists out there, it probably isn’t sufficiently sophisticated to connect with us, so we shall have to initiate the initial greeting.
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Damien PineLive Science contributor
Damien Pine (he/him) functions as a freelance writer, artist, and erstwhile NASA engineer. He authors works on science, physics, technology, art, and kindred subjects, emphasizing rendering complex concepts accessible. He possesses a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Connecticut, and he experiences elation whenever he encounters a cat.
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Scientists find best evidence yet that icy moon Enceladus is habitable
Saturn’s largest moon may be riddled with ‘slushy tunnels’ that contain alien life, new study hints