What will NASA look for in the Pacific Ocean with its submarine?
The space agency will investigate the seabed to look for possible life on other planets.
Next Monday, August 20, NASA will send a submarine to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. The reason is related to the search for extraterrestrial life.
This new project is called Subsea (Systematic Underwater Biogeochemical Science and Exploration Analog) and its purpose is the study of the conditions of the sea floor.
The space agency wants to study the different conditions of temperature and water pressure that have been found in moons of the solar system, such as Europa, the icy moon of Jupiter and the moons of Saturn (Enceladus and Titan).
All of these could have liquid oceans under their ice crusts. That is, it is presumed that there could be life in them.
This is supported because water with the interaction of rocks on the seabed could produce chemical reactions that would enable microbial metabolism.
Three years ago the space agency set itself the goal of taking a submarine to Titan by 2040. To get there, tests must be done on planet Earth to explore different types of conditions that they expect to encounter.
Experts will investigate Lo'ihi, an underwater volcano near Hawaii. The springs of this volcano could be useful for the subsequent exploration of extraterrestrial life.