NASA Experiment Reveals: Life Signs Could Survive Near Surfaces of Enceladus and Europa

NASA researchers have found that amino acids, potential indicators of life, could survive near the surface of Europa and Enceladus, moons of Jupiter and Saturn respectively.

Experiments indicate that these organic molecules can withstand radiation just under the ice, making them accessible to future robotic landers without deep drilling.

Exploring Life Potential on Icy Moons
Europa, a moon of Jupiter, and Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, have evidence of oceans beneath their ice crusts. A NASA experiment suggests that if these oceans support life, signatures of that life in the form of organic molecules (e.g. amino acids, nucleic acids, etc.) could survive just under the surface ice despite the harsh radiation on these worlds. If robotic landers are sent to these moons to look for life signs, they would not have to dig very deep to find amino acids that have survived being altered or destroyed by radiation.