Using NASA’s Juno spacecraft, scientists have calculated the rate of oxygen production on Jupiter’s moon Europa — the first time any spacecraft had directly measured charged oxygen and hydrogen particles from the moon’s atmosphere. From these measurements, the team determined the rate of oxygen production to be much lower than estimated in previous studies.
Europa, Jupiter’s fourth largest moon, has a rocky interior and a surface made of water ice. Measurements of the moon’s magnetic field, collected by NASA’s Galileo mission, provided evidence for the presence of a salty ocean beneath the ice sheets. Ocean worlds, like Europa, are the prime candidates in the search for extraterrestrial life in our solar system.