The comet doesn't have to pierce entirely through the icy moon shell.
, which will launch in October 2024, is to collect data that can help test whether oxidants can reach the moon's underground ocean from the satellite's surface. The mission will conduct a detailed exploration of Europa and investigate whether the icy moon can support life.However, at the moment, impacts from comets and asteroids are thought to be one of the most likely mechanisms for the origin of life on Europa. Scientists have already discovered dozens of.
While the study has focused on Europa, it has implications for other icy worlds with subsurface oceans, such as Saturn's moon, Titan. "In the case of Titan, this is very important because Titan has a thick ice crust — thicker than Europa's. We're really interested in the application of this study," said Rosaly Lopes, the directorate scientist for the Planetary Science Directorate at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory .Impacts into icy bodies often generate near-surface melt chambers and thermal perturbations that soften the ice.
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