It's happening...or...will be. Europa, a moon of Jupiter thought to harbor a warm, saltwater ocean sloshing beneath a thick, icy crust, has long been considered one of the best spots in the solar system to look for alien beings. Now, citing data collected by NASA's Galileo probe more than two decades ago, scientists report that giant jets of water are spouting more than 100 miles off that moon's surface. The study, published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy, adds to the mounting evidence that Europa is spewing its contents into space. If the existence of the plumes is confirmed and they are linked to Europa's ocean, they could provide a tantalizingly straightforward way to sample the moon in search of signs of life. Rather than land on the surface and drill as much as 15 miles through ice — a feat that has never been achieved even on Earth — a spacecraft could simply fly through the spray and test its contents. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...or-life/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.3062bad98b55
