When
7:30 p.m., Oct. 20, 2008
Where
Kuiper Space Sciences Bldg. 308
Richard Greenberg, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, is the scheduled speaker.
Tides heat Jupiter’s moon Europa and stress its icy crust. The distinctive tectonic cracks and ice floes demonstrate active linkages between the surface and the underlying deep global ocean, which have provided a variety of evolving environmental niches. These processes were recent, and thus most likely continue today. A habitable biosphere might extend from the ocean up to within a few centimeters of the surface. Longer term changes in environmental conditions may have driven biological adaptation, as well as provided opportunity for evolution. Life on Europa might be relatively accessible to spacecraft exploration, but at the same time vulnerable to contamination.
Professor Greenberg will sign copies of his book, Unmasking Europa: The Search for Life on Jupiter’s Ocean Moon, which will be available for purchase before and after the lecture.
Tides heat Jupiter’s moon Europa and stress its icy crust. The distinctive tectonic cracks and ice floes demonstrate active linkages between the surface and the underlying deep global ocean, which have provided a variety of evolving environmental niches. These processes were recent, and thus most likely continue today. A habitable biosphere might extend from the ocean up to within a few centimeters of the surface. Longer term changes in environmental conditions may have driven biological adaptation, as well as provided opportunity for evolution. Life on Europa might be relatively accessible to spacecraft exploration, but at the same time vulnerable to contamination.
Professor Greenberg will sign copies of his book, Unmasking Europa: The Search for Life on Jupiter’s Ocean Moon, which will be available for purchase before and after the lecture.
General
LPL Evening Lectures
Undergraduate
Graduate