Distant Spacecraft Confirms Earth Is Habitable: ScienceAlert

Spacecraft on its way to frozen moons Jupiter He took a closer look at Earth, and found that our home world was, in fact, habitable.

During his flight on August 20, European Space Agency juice The probe turned Magis Imaging spectrometer and Swiss A submillimeter spectrometer was launched into Earth's atmosphere, searching for molecules and elements that, taken together, indicate that life was not only able to emerge and survive on a world, but may be present there now.

Of course, we know that life is slowly creeping onto Earth. But that's exactly why astronomers are looking.

The probe will be headed to Jupiter's moons that are most likely to host life as we know it — so scientists wanted to make sure its instruments were able to make relevant discoveries once it got there.

“We were obviously not surprised by these results… It was very disturbing to discover that Earth is uninhabitable!” Planetary scientist Olivier Wetas says: From the European Space Agency.

“But it suggests that MAGIS and SWI will work very well at Jupiter, where they will help us investigate whether icy moons could be potential habitats for past or present life.”

The two instruments measured various components of Earth's atmosphere. MAJIS measured the composition, including oxygen and water, Ozoneand carbon dioxide. It also compiled infrared thermal maps of the Earth's surface.

On the other hand, SWI has counted a set of items known as Chnobs Elements. This abbreviation stands for carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur – the six most common elements in living things.

It all seems to be there and right, which is good news for us on many levels, when you think about it. The Juice team will be digging deeper into the data like the ferocious little rodents, analyzing it and making sure the data collected is consistent with other data and observed reality.

Meanwhile, Juice, which launched in April last year, continues on the scenic route to Jupiter, with Several more flights From the ground and The flower The spacecraft is scheduled to reach Jupiter's orbit before reaching Jupiter's orbit, which is currently scheduled for July 2031.

Once there, it will examine the giant planet and its moons Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa — each of which contains a hidden ocean whose floor may be teeming with marine life.

If there's anything out there, Juice represents our best hope yet for finding it. Safe travels, little spacecraft.