Should we leave them alone? Yesterday the Europa Clipper probe set out to visit one of Jupiter’s moons, with some scientists hoping that it will find evidence of life.
Blast off for alien-hunter spaceship
Should we leave them alone? Yesterday the Europa Clipper probe set out to visit one of Jupiter's moons, with some scientists hoping that it will find evidence of life.
All year the NasaThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration, responsible for the US space programme. scientists had been preparing for the launch of the Europa Clipper from Cape Canaveral in Florida. But as the moment approached, a threat to the whole project suddenly appeared: Hurricane Milton. The spacecraft had to be rushed back into its hangar for safety.
Yesterday they tried again. At 5:06pm BSTBritish Summer Time. , the spacecraft rose into the air. Its journey will take it 390 million miles to Europa, one of JupiterThe largest planet in our solar system. It is a gas giant. 's 95 moons.
About the same size as our own Moon, it is covered in a sheet of ice up to 15km thick. And below that ice, scientists believe, there could be a huge saltwater ocean containing the basic ingredients of life.
Europa first attracted attention in 1995 when Nasa's Galileo probe took photos showing cracks on the surface, which could contain vital salts and chemical compounds. Recently the James Webb space telescopeA high resolution space telescope that overtook the capabilities of the Hubble telescope. It was launched in December 2021. has captured pictures of what look like plumes of water rising 100 miles above Europa's surface.
For life to exist, says Professor Michelle Dougherty of Imperial College London, you need three things: "Liquid water, a heat source and organic material. Finally, those three ingredients need to be stable over a long enough period of time that something can happen."1
Europa is just one of several ambitious projects to look for alien life. A probe called the Venus Life Finder is scheduled to blast off at the end of December in the hope of detecting organic compounds in the planet's atmosphere. And Nasa recently started work on an enormous telescope called the Habitable Worlds Observatory, which will identify 25 promising planetary bodies to investigate.
Space exploration in general took a step forward on Sunday with an extraordinary test carried out by SpaceXFounded in 2002 by South African entrepreneur Elon Musk, SpaceX's mission is to reduce the cost of space transportation to make possible the colonisation of Mars.. It succeeded in launching a Starship rocket with a Super Heavy booster which then returned to its base to be caught by two giant robotic arms. This opens the way for spacecraft to be used over and over again.
But many people worry about the consequences of searching for aliens. As Mark Buchanan writes in The Washington Post, any we find would probably be far more advanced than we are, because most other stars in our galaxy A system of millions or billions of stars, gas and dust, held together by gravitational attraction. are much older than the Sun. And our own history shows us that in such situations, the more advanced civilisation usually destroys or enslaves the other.
Should we leave them alone?
Yes: Looking for them is just too great a risk. Mark Buchanan is right to point out that they are likely to be more technically sophisticated than us and able to wipe out humanity if they want to.
No: They could very well be friendly, and have advanced technology they could share with us to solve many of the Earth's greatest problems - particularly global warming - and save us from extinction.
Or... It may be that they have already found us. Perhaps Elon MuskA South African-born entrepreneur whose companies have included the online payment service PayPal. He now controls Twitter, renamed 'X'. is an alien who is trying to build a spacecraft to take him home, as in the novel and film The Man Who Fell to Earth.
Keywords
Nasa - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, responsible for the US space programme.
BST - British Summer Time.
Jupiter - The largest planet in our solar system. It is a gas giant.
James Webb Space Telescope - A high resolution space telescope that overtook the capabilities of the Hubble telescope. It was launched in December 2021.
SpaceX - Founded in 2002 by South African entrepreneur Elon Musk, SpaceX's mission is to reduce the cost of space transportation to make possible the colonisation of Mars.
Galaxy - A system of millions or billions of stars, gas and dust, held together by gravitational attraction.
Elon Musk - A South African-born entrepreneur whose companies have included the online payment service PayPal. He now controls Twitter, renamed 'X'.
Blast off for alien-hunter spaceship
Glossary
Nasa - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, responsible for the US space programme.
BST - British Summer Time.
Jupiter - The largest planet in our solar system. It is a gas giant.
James Webb Space Telescope - A high resolution space telescope that overtook the capabilities of the Hubble telescope. It was launched in December 2021.
SpaceX - Founded in 2002 by South African entrepreneur Elon Musk, SpaceX's mission is to reduce the cost of space transportation to make possible the colonisation of Mars.
Galaxy - A system of millions or billions of stars, gas and dust, held together by gravitational attraction.
Elon Musk - A South African-born entrepreneur whose companies have included the online payment service PayPal. He now controls Twitter, renamed 'X'.