Building blocks
of life found
on Europa

UH scientist Thomas McCord
leads a team studying
data from Galileo

By Veronica Fajardo
Star-Bulletin

Recent data from the Galileo space mission indicate the presence of all the building blocks for life to form on one of Jupiter's moons, Europa.

Before life on Earth could emerge, three materials were required: an energy source, organic molecules and liquid water. "With those three, many people think that life will eventually form," said Thomas McCord, University of Hawaii professor of planetary sciences and lead author of an article in today's issue of Science magazine.

McCord has been working with NASA and an international team of scientists from France, England, Germany and the United States to study data collected from the Near Infra Red Mapping Spectrometer aboard Galileo.

What they found are combinations of oxygen, carbon, sulphur, hydrogen and nitrogen that can make up several types of organic compounds.

Galileo was launched Oct. 18, 1989, entered Jupiter's orbit on Dec. 7, 1995, and has been sending back data.

The study of Jupiter's moons is part of a growing effort by astronomers and planetary experts to find evidence of life within the solar system. For example, researchers working with the Pathfinder mission have determined that Mars once had vast pools of water and there is speculation this could have led to the evolution of life.

A spectrometer measures sunlight reflected from the surface of Jupiter and its moons. Because all materials found reflect light at certain wavelengths, scientists are able to identify the presence of specific materials and build a map of that surface.

"Each material offers its own unique fingerprint," McCord said. "We think we've demonstrated that pre-biotic organic molecules (one of the building blocks of life) or at least some of them are present in the Jupiter satellite system."

McCord said these organic molecules are common in the outer solar system but scientists did not know they existed on the Galilean satellites.

"Whether you think life is formed by physics or by God you still need those materials," he said.

McCord and a team of post-doctorate fellows and graduate students at UH have been analyzing the maps and spectrums for the icy worlds since they first began receiving data from Galileo in July 1996.

"This is not all proven but it may give you an idea why organic molecules might be important for the study of the formation of life and of the exploration for life on Europa," McCord said. "It's another piece of the puzzle."

Speculation abounds as to the source of the organic material and is all part of an evolving field of study.

Comets, interstellar grains (grains of materials between stars) and meteorites have some of these building blocks. Scientists surmise the material is coming from outside as cometary material -- pulled to Jupiter by its powerful gravity field generated by its immense size.

McCord said: "Most likely, the material we're seeing was present from the beginning -- part of the formation material -- as well as raining in from the outside as the solar system continues to clean out the small objects that are left over after it was formed."

He likened Jupiter's moons to waste dumps in space, but maybe important waste dumps for understanding how the solar system works and how it was formed.

"We're trying to find out what's there, where did the material come from and what is it telling us about the solar system in general and life formation."

---

The Associated Press contributed to this report.