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17h ago

NASA Launches Three-Year Deep-Sea Microbe Study to Inform Europa Life Search

UMass Amherst researchers are recreating deep-sea vent conditions to refine microbial detection methods for NASA’s Europa Clipper mission.

The hydrothermal microbes Holden studies thrive in lightless, oxygen-less conditions a mile or more beneath the ocean’s surface. Credit: James Holden
Hydrothermal life can often thrive in dark, low-oxygen conditions deep below the ocean surface (Credit: NOAA)

Overview

  • NASA awarded a $621,000 grant to microbiologist James Holden at UMass Amherst to support a three-year investigation into hydrothermal vent microbes.
  • The research program, running through 2028, has begun simulating Europa’s subsurface ocean conditions by recreating lightless, oxygen-free hydrothermal vent environments in the lab.
  • Scientists will analyze how microbes harness hydrogen, sulfur and metal-driven chemical processes to predict potential adaptations of Europan life.
  • Findings will inform the Europa Clipper mission’s life-detection strategies ahead of the spacecraft’s scheduled arrival at Jupiter’s icy moon in 2030.
  • Europa is believed to host a liquid ocean beneath a 15–25 km ice shell with depths up to 150 km, making Earth’s hydrothermal vents its closest planetary analogues.