Glum but undaunted, they returned to Pasadena. Within a week they designed and built a new probe. This one survived 4,000 psi. It could be decades before NASA sends a spacecraft to land on Europa, but evidence for a salty ocean on that moon keeps building. And a volcanically active Europa would have hydrothermal vents spewing rich, hot chemical soups from the ocean floor.
Some scientists believe that life on Earth began in such extreme environments.
Bacteria Everywhere On Earth, bacterial communities have been found in seemingly hostile environments ranging from hot rocks on the sea floor to Antarctic deserts. The Europa probe is the first instrument designed to look for life directly in the hottest parts of hydrothermal vents. Our current understanding of vent-living bacteria is based on the tiny minority that can grow in lab cultures. The Europa probe might well help us find new life forms here on Earth. All rights reserved.