It’s the stuff of science-fiction movies and college philosophy classes around the world: are we alone out here? Is there life on other planets, and if so, what is it like and how does it thrive? Recently, NASA scientists made a discovery that could answer that question, but rather than finding life on a distant chunk of rock countless trillions of miles from Earth, they may have found it in our backyard, relatively speaking. Harold Kozak is a retired astronomy professor; he appeared on 710 WOR’s Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning program to discuss how, in a few short years, we may finally have an answer to the pressing questions.
“Life as we know it is based on organic chemistry, on biochemistry,” Kozak explained to Berman and Riedel. “Right now, the big news at NASA is we have sent out the Europa Clipper. Now, this mission is going to Europa, which is one of the ice-covered moons of Jupiter, one of the 95 moons of Jupiter, and that moon, we know, has cracks in the ice. We know that, below that ice, there is as much water under there as there is on the Earth, liquid water. And we’ve detected carbon dioxide on the surface. Now, what does that mean? That’s right: it means there is something releasing that carbon dioxide.”
Kozak then expanded the chemistry lesson to show why scientists can’t wait for the Europa Clipper to reach its destination. “Recently, we discovered something which is totally mind-boggling. Below that ice we have found hot water geysers erupting from that ice, just like you would find at Yellowstone National Park, and we’ve done a spectral analysis, and we’ve detected some organics there. So right now we know that, by 2030, that Europa Clipper that we just sent up will be orbiting Europa, perhaps landing there, and we feel at NASA that we’re gonna have an excellent chance of finding some form of life on that moon.”
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