--- title: "Scientists Confirm Water Vapor Above the Surface of Europa" description: "A team out of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center has confirmed traces of water vapor being released above Jupiter's moon Europa." date: "2019-11-18" modified: "2019-11-18" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/scientists-confirm-water-vapor-europa" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "alien life" - "europa" - "jupiter" - "NASA" --- # Scientists Confirm Water Vapor Above the Surface of Europa ![A team out of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center has confirmed traces of water vapor being released above Jupiter's moon Europa.]() *\Image: NASA\* A team led by researchers out of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, has confirmed traces of water vapor above the surface of Jupiter's icy moon Europa. And that's a big deal as the tiny space rock is one of the highest priority [targets]() in NASA's search for extraterrestrial life, [according to the agency.]() "While scientists have not yet detected liquid water directly, we’ve found the next best thing: water in vapor form," lead researcher and NASA planetary scientist Lucas Paganini said in [a NASA statement](). According to [a paper]() published in the journal *Nature Astronomy* on Monday, the NASA team discovered enough water vapor being released from Europa to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool within minutes. But while that sounds like a lot, it was only just enough to be detected from Earth. Out of 17 observations by the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii, which uses a spectrograph to detect the chemical compositions of other planets' atmospheres by scanning the infrared light they release or absorb, the scientists only spotted water vapor in one. "We suggest that the outgassing of water vapour on Europa occurs at lower levels than previously estimated, with only rare localized events of stronger activity," Paganini and his team wrote in the paper. For many years, scientists have suspected that there's water on Europa's surface, and several observations appear to back up that suspicion. More than two decades ago, NASA's Galileo spacecraft found evidence of an electrically conductive fluid on the moon's surface. Then, a 2018 analysis of the data found evidence of [massive plumes of liquid](). Data previously collected by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope [supported]() the existence of the plumes. "We performed diligent safety checks to remove possible contaminants in ground-based observations," Goddard planetary scientist Avi Mandell said of the water vapor discovery in the statement. "But, eventually, we’ll have to get closer to Europa to see what’s really going on." A mission to do just that is already lined up. NASA's upcoming Europa Clipper mission will get a much closer look at the icy moon's surface [as soon as 2023](). The spacecraft will feature a suite of cameras, spectrometers, and a radar to investigate the thickness of Europa’s icy shell during 45 flybys — and perhaps yield further insights into the water vapor above the moon's surface while it's there. **READ MORE:** [NASA Scientists Confirm Water Vapor on Europa]() \[NASA\] **More on Europa:** *[NASA is Sending a Probe to Jupiter’s Icy Moon to Look for Life]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()