---
title: "A NASA Scientist Heralds “One of the Most Profound Discoveries” of the Space Age"
description: "NASA astronomer Alan Stern tells Discover Magazine that the discovery of liquid oceans on other worlds is among the \"most profound discoveries\" in space."
date: "2020-12-11"
modified: "2020-12-13"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-scientist-heralds-most-profound-discoveries-space-age"
categories:
  - "NASA"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "Ceres"
  - "oceans"
  - "Pluto"
  - "space"
  - "the digest"
---

# A NASA Scientist Heralds “One of the Most Profound Discoveries” of the Space Age

![NASA astronomer Alan Stern tells Discover Magazine that the discovery of liquid oceans on other worlds is among the "most profound discoveries" in space.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/nasa-scientist-heralds-most-profound-discoveries-space-age.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Water Worlds

In recent years, scientists have learned that one of Earth's most unique features — its liquid oceans — is far more common throughout the solar system than scientists ever expected.

Take Ceres, a dwarf planet orbiting our Sun inside the asteroid belt, which scientists discovered earlier this year is actually an ocean world, [according to *Discover Magazine*](<https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/earth-isnt-the-only-ocean-world-in-the-solar-system>). The discovery of abundant water on other worlds could have huge implications for the search for extraterrestrial life — to the point that NASA astronomer Alan Stern tells *Discover* that it's "one of the most profound discoveries in planetary science in the Space Age."

## Freezing Over

Most of the water in the solar system is either tucked away underground, like in [Mars' subterranean lakes](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/found-three-more-reservoirs-liquid-water-mars>), or frozen over, like that [on the Moon](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/mining-lunar-ice-irrevocably-damage-moons-environment>). But now, NASA research suggests that Ceres was struck by a space rock 20 million years ago that punctured its surface and unleashed a flood of extremely salty water. In order to better understand what happened and to study the oceans, NASA may soon send a spacecraft to touch down on Ceres' surface, according to *Discover*.

"Ceres is a lot closer and it's a lot easier to get to than these moons in the outer solar system," Carol Raymond, principal investigator of the NASA Dawn mission that sent a probe to Ceres in 2015, told *Discover*. "It is a very enticing target."

## Not Alone

It's not just Ceres. There are other high-profile ocean worlds like [Saturn's moon Titan](<https://futurism.com/nasa-project-life-titan-ocean>) and, bizarrely, even Pluto.

NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto, headed by Stern, found that Pluto formed rapidly through an onslaught of space rock collisions that continue to heat up the former [planet's liquid oceans](<https://futurism.com/pluto-start-hot-water-world>), *Discover* reports.

The implications of all that aren't clear yet — but it's within the realm of possibility that the implications could lead to the first discovery of life beyond Earth.

*Editor's note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Titan is a moon of Jupiter, rather than Saturn. It has been updated.*

**READ MORE:** [Earth Isn't the Only Ocean World in the Solar System](<https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/earth-isnt-the-only-ocean-world-in-the-solar-system>) \[*Discover Magazine*\]

**More on oceans:** *[Scientists: There's Evidence Pluto Has an Underground Ocean](<https://futurism.com/pluto-start-hot-water-world>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)