Robots may have to dig through at least 1 feet of ice to find life on Jupiter's moon Europa

Although Jupiter's moon Europa may be one of the places in the solar system to look for life due to its ocean, robots could have to dig further than previously thought to find it, a new study suggests. According to the research, any robot landers that enter Europa's atmosphere will have to dig at least 12 inches down. This is a result of the ice moon being hit with'impact gardening,' a phenomenon that is the result of space radiation hitting molecules and bringing some of them to the surface, while pushing other parts down, mixing with the subsurface. 'If we hope to find pristine, chemical biosignatures, we will have to look below the zone where impacts have been gardening,' said the study's lead author, University of Hawaii at Manoa planetary research scientist Emily Costello in a statement. Jupiter's moon Europa may be one of the places in the solar system to look for life due to its ocean, but robots could have to dig further than previously thought to find it, a new study suggests According to the research, any robot landers that enter Europa's atmosphere will have to dig at least 12 inches down as the ice moon is hit with'impact gardening.'