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The radar properties of icy satellites of Jupiter and Saturn commonly differ by more than an order of magnitude from those of rocky planets because of the lower absorptivity of water ice than that of rock. However, the specific mechanisms behind these differences are not confidently known yet. Here we show that the global radar albedos and the circular polarization ratios of icy satellites are correlated and vary together along a continuum, which is not satisfactorily explained by existing models. We modified a backscatter model that includes the coherent backscatter opposition effect (CBOE) and found that it fits successfully the observed continuum, indicative of CBOE’s primary role in driving the circular polarization ratios of icy satellites. We predict that the linear polarization ratios and the incidence angle variation properties also vary along the observed continuum, and that, globally, Europa and Enceladus have very heterogeneous surfaces/subsurfaces with very little microwave absorption. The modified CBOE model suggests that some worlds beyond Saturn’s orbit that are rich in non-water ices may have even more extreme radar properties.

The frigid satellite worlds of our outer solar system may harbour extraterrestrial life. Planetary scientist Kevin Hand tells Daniel Cossins his plan to find it

Jupiter’s moon Europa is predicted to harbor a global liquid water ocean beneath its icy crust [1,2]. Like Saturn’s moon Enceladus, Europa could be cryovolcanically active, with evidence for plumes of water recently reported (e.g. [3,4]). Such plumes could eject gas and water ice grains from the subsurface ocean into space. Sputtering and micrometeorite bombardment may also eject icy surface particles to high altitudes [5]. Ice grains ejected from icy moons can be analyzed during spacecraft flybys by impact ionization mass spectrometers [6], such as the Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) onboard the Cassini spacecraft or the Surface Dust Analyzer (SUDA) that will be onboard the upcoming Europa Clipper mission [7]. These instruments can determine the composition of the ice grains and potentially indirectly sample subsurface oceans. In the Saturnian system, data collected by the CDA instrument showed that Enceladus’ interior ocean is salt-rich [8], sustains water-rock hydrothermal interactions [9], and contains a variety of organic material, including complex macromolecules [10] and low mass volatile compounds, potentially acting as amino acid precursors [11]. On Europa, the subsurface ocean is predicted to be in direct contact with silicates and possible seafloor magmatic activity, enhancing the potential habitability of the moon [12]. The moon’s surface is also exposed to the harsh radiation environment of Jupiter, which may induce oxidation and potentially other chemical reactions involving both ice and non-ice compounds [13]. Interpreting mass spectra acquired in space requires terrestrial calibration by analogue experiments. The Laser Induced Liquid Beam Ion Desorption (LILBID) technique reproduces the impact ionization mass spectra of ice grains recorded in space [14]. Previous LILBID experiments have shown that bioessential molecules, such as amino acids and fatty acids, can be detected in ice grains at concentrations as low as the µM or nM level [15], and that the abiotic and biotic formation processes of these molecules can be distinguished from each other based on spectral features [16]. Microbial biosignatures were also investigated recently, showing that nucleobases, fatty acids and other bacterial fragments can be clearly identified [17]. Here we investigate whether Europa-relevant organic compounds encased in ice grains can also be detected and characterized using impact ionization mass spectrometry in space. High-sensitivity LILBID experiments have been performed with formamide (CH3NO), farnesol (C15H26O), cholesteryl linoleate (C45H76O2) and N-dodecanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (C16H29NO3) to predict their spectral appearance in both anion and cation mass spectra. Formamide is expected to form by radiolytic reactions on Europa’s surface [18], while farnesol, cholesteryl linoleate and N-dodecanoyl-L-homoserine lactone are lipids, representing potential biosignatures and selected for their high resistance to degradation. These compounds were investigated in water matrices with varying NaCl concentrations designed to mimic Europa’s predicted salty ocean and surface composition [19,20]. Results show that the identification of molecular peaks as well as characteristic fragments is possible for both formamide and lipids. Additionally, the spectra of formamide in salt-rich matrices show that formamide can be detected via sodiated molecular clusters ([CH3NO+Na]+) and other Na-rich complexes. The next steps will be to investigate these compounds in H2O2-rich matrices, designed to simulate the highly oxidizing surface environment of Europa [21]. Sulfate salts and sulfuric acid are also under consideration as important matrices relevant to the surface chemistry of Europa. Other potential biosignatures, as well as their irradiation products, will be investigated to study the likelihood of their survival and detection under Europa’s radiation environment. The recorded mass spectra will complement a comprehensive spectral reference library [22], which provides analogue data of a wide range of compounds applicable to impact ionization mass spectrometers onboard Europa Clipper or other future ocean world missions. References [1] Kivelson et al. (2000) Science 289.5483: 1340-1343 [2] Zimmer et al. (2000) Icarus 147.2: 329-347 [3] Jia et al. (2018) Nature Astronomy volume 2, pages 459–464 [4] Roth et al. (2014) Science 343.6167: 171-174. [5] Miljkovic et al. (2012), Planetary and Space Science 70.1: 20-27 [6] Postberg, et al. (2011) Planetary and Space Science 59.14: 1815-1825 [7] Kempf et al. (2014) EPSC2014-229, 2014 [8] Postberg et al. (2009) Nature 459.7250: 1098-1101 [9] Hsu et al. (2005) Nature 519.7542: 207-210 [10] Postberg et al. (2018) Nature 558:564–568 [11] Khawaja et al. (2019) Mon Not R Astron Soc 489:5231–5243 [12] Hand et al. (2009) Europa 589-629. [13] Hand et al. (2007) Astrobiology 7.6: 1006-1022 [14] Klenner et al. (2019) Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 33.22: 1751-1760 [15] Klenner et al. (2020) Astrobiology 20:179–189 [16] Klenner et al. (2020) Astrobiology 20: 1168–1184 [17] Pavlista et al. (2021) EGU21-15475 [18] Hand (2007) PhD Thesis, Dpt of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University [19] Zolotov et al. (2001) Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 106.E12: 32815-32827 [20] Trumbo et al. (2019) Science advances 5.6: eaaw7123 [21] Johnson et al. (2003) Astrobiology 3, 823–850 [22] Klenner et al., in prep.

NASA’s Dragonfly mission will send a rotorcraft lander to the surface of Titan in the mid-2030s. Dragonfly's science themes include investigation of Titan’s prebiotic chemistry, habitability, and potential chemical biosignatures from both water-based “life as we know it” (as might occur in the interior mantle ocean, potential cryovolcanic flows, and/or impact melt deposits) and potential “life, but not as we know it” that might use liquid hydrocarbons as a solvent (within Titan’s lakes, seas, and/or aquifers). Consideration of both of these solvents simultaneously led to our initial landing site in Titan’s equatorial dunes and interdunes to sample organic sediments and water ice, respectively. Ultimately, Dragonfly's traverse target is the 80 km diameter Selk Crater, at 7° N, where we seek previously liquid water that has mixed with surface organics. Our science goals include determining how far prebiotic chemistry has progressed on Titan and what molecules and elements might be available for such chemistry. We will also determine the role of Titan’s tropical deserts in the global methane cycle. We will investigate the processes and processing rates that modify Titan’s surface geology and constrain how and where organics and liquid water can mix on and within Titan. Importantly, we will search for chemical biosignatures indicative of past or extant biological processes. As such, Dragonfly, along with Perseverance, is the first NASA mission to explicitly incorporate the search for signs of life into its mission goals since the Viking landers in 1976.

Two forms of ohmic heating of astrophysical secondaries have received particular attention: unipolar-generator heating with currents running between the primary and secondary; and magnetic induction heating due to the primary's time-varying field. Neither appears to cause significant dissipation in the contemporary solar system. But these discussions have overlooked heating derived from the spatial variation of the primary's field across the interior of the secondary. This leads to Lorentz force-driven currents around paths entirely internal to the secondary, with resulting ohmic heating. We examine three ways to drive such currents, by the cross product of: (1) the secondary's azimuthal orbital velocity with the non-axially symmetric field of the primary; (2) the radial velocity (due to non-zero eccentricity) of the secondary with the primary's field; or (3) the out-of-plane velocity (due to non-zero inclination) with the primary's field. The first of these operates even for a spin-locked secondary whose orbit has zero eccentricity, in strong contrast to tidal dissipation. We show that Jupiter's moon Io today could dissipate about 600 GW (more than likely current radiogenic heating) in the outer hundred meters of its metallic core by this mechanism. Had Io ever been at 3 jovian radii instead of its current 5.9, it could have been dissipating 15,000 GW. Ohmic dissipation provides a mechanism that could operate in any solar system to drive inward migration of secondaries that then necessarily comes to a halt upon reaching a sufficiently close distance to the primary., Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure; accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters

The Mars 2020 mission will seek the signs of ancient life on Mars and will identify, prepare, document, and cache a set of samples for possible return to Earth by a follow-on mission. Mars 2020 and its Perseverance rover thus link and further two long-held goals in planetary science: a deep search for evidence of life in a habitable extraterrestrial environment, and the return of martian samples to Earth for analysis in terrestrial laboratories. The Mars 2020 spacecraft is based on the design of the highly successful Mars Science Laboratory and its Curiosity rover, but outfitted with a sophisticated suite of new science instruments. Ground-penetrating radar will illuminate geologic structures in the shallow subsurface, while a multi-faceted weather station will document martian environmental conditions. Several instruments can be used individually or in tandem to map the color, texture, chemistry, and mineralogy of rocks and regolith at the meter scale and at the submillimeter scale. The science instruments will be used to interpret the geology of the landing site, to identify habitable paleoenvironments, to seek ancient textural, elemental, mineralogical and organic biosignatures, and to locate and characterize the most promising samples for Earth return. Once selected, ∼35 samples of rock and regolith weighing about 15 grams each will be drilled directly into ultraclean and sterile sample tubes. Perseverance will also collect blank sample tubes to monitor the evolving rover contamination environment. In addition to its scientific instruments, Perseverance hosts technology demonstrations designed to facilitate future Mars exploration. These include a device to generate oxygen gas by electrolytic decomposition of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and a small helicopter to assess performance of a rotorcraft in the thin martian atmosphere. Mars 2020 entry, descent, and landing (EDL) will use the same approach that successfully delivered Curiosity to the martian surface, but with several new features that enable the spacecraft to land at previously inaccessible landing sites. A suite of cameras and a microphone will for the first time capture the sights and sounds of EDL. Mars 2020’s landing site was chosen to maximize scientific return of the mission for astrobiology and sample return. Several billion years ago Jezero crater held a 40 km diameter, few hundred-meter-deep lake, with both an inflow and an outflow channel. A prominent delta, fine-grained lacustrine sediments, and carbonate-bearing rocks offer attractive targets for habitability and for biosignature preservation potential. In addition, a possible volcanic unit in the crater and impact megabreccia in the crater rim, along with fluvially-deposited clasts derived from the large and lithologically diverse headwaters terrain, contribute substantially to the science value of the sample cache for investigations of the history of Mars and the Solar System. Even greater diversity, including very ancient aqueously altered rocks, is accessible in a notional rover traverse that ascends out of Jezero crater and explores the surrounding Nili Planum. Mars 2020 is conceived as the first element of a multi-mission Mars Sample Return campaign. After Mars 2020 has cached the samples, a follow-on mission consisting of a fetch rover and a rocket could retrieve and package them, and then launch the package into orbit. A third mission could capture the orbiting package and return it to Earth. To facilitate the sample handoff, Perseverance could deposit its collection of filled sample tubes in one or more locations, called depots, on the planet’s surface. Alternatively, if Perseverance remains functional, it could carry some or all the samples directly to the retrieval spacecraft. The Mars 2020 mission and its Perseverance rover launched from the Eastern Range at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on July 30, 2020. Landing at Jezero Crater will occur on Feb 18, 2021 at about 12:30 PM Pacific Time.

International audience; Liquid water oceans are now predicted to exist beneath the icy shells of numerous worlds in the outer solar system. These ocean worlds are prime targets in our search for evidence of life beyond Earth, and specifically extant life. Here we review the conditions that may lead to several of these worlds being habitable, and provide a framework for the future exploration of these astrobiologically compelling targets.

We investigated whether ammonia-rich constituents are present on the surface of the Uranian moon Ariel by analyzing 32 near-infrared reflectance spectra collected over a wide range of sub-observer longitudes and latitudes. We measured the band areas and depths of a 2.2-{\micron} feature in these spectra, which has been attributed to ammonia-bearing species on other icy bodies. Ten spectra display prominent 2.2-{\micron} features with band areas and depths > 2{\sigma}. We determined the longitudinal distribution of the 2.2-{\micron} band, finding no statistically meaningful differences between Ariel's leading and trailing hemispheres, indicating that this band is distributed across Ariel's surface. We compared the band centers and shapes of the five Ariel spectra displaying the strongest 2.2-{\micron} bands to laboratory spectra of various ammonia-bearing and ammonium-bearing species, finding that the spectral signatures of the Ariel spectra are best matched by ammonia-hydrates and flash frozen ammonia-water solutions. Our analysis also revealed that four Ariel spectra display 2.24-{\micron} bands (> 2{\sigma} band areas and depths), with band centers and shapes that are best matched by ammonia ice. Because ammonia should be efficiently removed over short timescales by ultraviolet photons, cosmic rays, and charged particles trapped in Uranus' magnetosphere, the possible presence of this constituent supports geologic activity in the recent past, such as emplacement of ammonia-rich cryolavas and exposure of ammonia-rich deposits by tectonism, impact events, and mass wasting.

Ocean Worlds represent one of the best chances for extra-terrestrial life in our solar system. A new mission concept must be developed to explore these oceans. This mission would require traversing the 10s of km thick icy shell and releasing a submersible into the ocean below. During the transit of the icy shell and the exploration of the ocean, the vehicle(s) would be out of contact with Earth for weeks or potentially months at a time. During this time the vehicle must have sufficient autonomy to locate and study scientific targets of interest. One such target of interest is hydrothermal venting. We have previously developed an autonomous nested search method to locate and investigate sources of hydrothermal venting by locating local maxima in hydrothermal vent emissions. In this work we demonstrate this approach on board an OceanServer Iver2 AUV in Chesapeake Bay, MD using simulated sensor data from a hydrothermal plume model. This represents the first step towards the deployment of this approach in conditions analogous to those that we might expect on an Ocean World.

Jupiter’s moon Europa, which is thought to possess a large liquid water ocean beneath its icy crust, is one of the most compelling targets in the search for life beyond Earth. Its geologically young surface, along with a number of surface features, indicate that material from Europa’s interior may be emplaced on the surface. However, the surface is affected by the harsh radiation environment of Jupiter’s magnetosphere, which over time may lead to chemical alteration and destruction of potential biosignatures. We show that radiation dose rates are highly dependent on surface location. Radiation processing and destruction of potential biosignatures is found to be significant down to depths of ~1 cm in mid- to high-latitude regions, and to depths of 10–20 cm within ‘radiation lenses’ centred on the leading and trailing hemispheres. These results indicate that future missions to Europa’s surface do not need to excavate material to great depths to investigate the composition of endogenic material and search for potential biosignatures. A model reconstructs the radiation dose from both protons and electrons on Europa’s surface. Using laboratory data on irradiated amino acids, it shows that organics can be preserved at detectable levels at depths of just a few centimetres at mid-to-high latitudes and in young (

Irradiated ice-covered ocean worlds with rocky mafic mantles may provide the conditions needed to drive the emergence and maintenance of life. Alkaline hydrothermal springs—relieving the geophysical, thermal, and chemical disequilibria between oceans and tidally stressed crusts—could generate inorganic barriers to the otherwise uncontrolled and kinetically disfavored oxidation of hydrothermal hydrogen and methane. Ionic gradients imposed across these inorganic barriers, comprising iron oxyhydroxides and sulfides, could drive the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide and the oxidation of methane through thermodynamically favorable metabolic pathways leading to early life-forms. In such chemostatic environments, fuels may eventually outweigh oxidants. Ice-covered oceans are primarily heated from below, creating convection that could transport putative microbial cells and cellular cooperatives upward to congregate beneath an ice shell, potentially giving rise to a highly focused shallow biosphere. It is here where electron acceptors, ultimately derived from the irradiated surface, could be delivered to such life-forms through exchange with the icy surface. Such zones would act as “electron disposal units” for the biosphere, and occupants might be transferred toward the surface by buoyant diapirs and even entrained into plumes. Key Words: Biofilms—Europa—Extraterrestrial life—Hydrothermal systems. Astrobiology 17, 1265–1273.

The Galileo Near Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) collected spectra of Europa in the 0.7-5.2 $\mu$m wavelength region, which have been critical to improving our understanding of the surface composition of this moon. However, most of the work done to get constraints on abundances of species like water ice, hydrated sulfuric acid, hydrated salts and oxides have used proxy methods, such as absorption strength of spectral features or fitting a linear mixture of laboratory generated spectra. Such techniques neglect the effect of parameters degenerate with the abundances, such as the average grain-size of particles, or the porosity of the regolith. In this work we revisit three Galileo NIMS spectra, collected from observations of the trailing hemisphere of Europa, and use a Bayesian inference framework, with the Hapke reflectance model, to reassess Europa's surface composition. Our framework has several quantitative improvements relative to prior analyses: (1) simultaneous inclusion of amorphous and crystalline water ice, sulfuric-acid-octahydrate (SAO), CO$_2$, and SO$_2$; (2) physical parameters like regolith porosity and radiation-induced band-center shift; and (3) tools to quantify confidence in the presence of each species included in the model, constrain their parameters, and explore solution degeneracies. We find that SAO strongly dominates the composition in the spectra considered in this study, while both forms of water ice are detected at varying confidence levels. We find no evidence of either CO$_2$ or SO$_2$ in any of the spectra; we further show through a theoretical analysis that it is highly unlikely that these species are detectable in any 1-2.5 $\mu$m Galileo NIMS data., Comment: 30 pages, 12 figures. Published in the Planetary Science Journal

Saturn's inner mid-size moons are exposed to a number of external weathering processes, including charged particle bombardment and UV photolysis, as well as deposition of E-ring grains and interplanetary dust. While optical remote sensing observations by several instruments onboard the Cassini spacecraft have revealed a number of weathering patterns across the surfaces of these moons, it is not entirely clear which external process is responsible for which observed weathering pattern. Here we focus on Saturn's moon Mimas and model the effect of energetic electron bombardment across its surface. By using a combination of a guiding center, bounce-averaged charged particle tracing approach and a particle physics code, we investigate how the radiation dose due to energetic electrons is deposited with depth at different locations. We predict a lens-shaped electron energy deposition pattern that extends down to ∼cm depths at low latitudes centered around the apex of the leading hemisphere (90° W). These results are consistent with previous remote sensing observations of a lens-shaped color anomaly observed by the Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) instrument as well as a thermal inertia anomaly observed by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) and the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS). Our results confirm that these features are produced by MeV electrons that have a penetration depth into the surface comparable to the effective sampling depths of these instruments. On the trailing hemisphere we predict a similar lens-shaped electron energy deposition pattern, whose effects have to date not been observed by the Cassini remote sensing instruments. We suggest that no corresponding lens-shaped weathering pattern has been observed on the trailing hemisphere because of the comparatively short range of lower energy (

Aerobic respiration—the reduction of molecular oxygen (O_2) coupled to the oxidation of reduced compounds such as organic carbon, ferrous iron, reduced sulfur compounds, or molecular hydrogen while conserving energy to drive cellular processes—is the most widespread and bioenergetically favorable metabolism on Earth today. Aerobic respiration is essential for the development of complex multicellular life; thus the presence of abundant O_2 is an important metric for planetary habitability. O_2 on Earth is supplied by oxygenic photosynthesis, but it is becoming more widely understood that abiotic processes may supply meaningful amounts of O_2 on other worlds. The modern atmosphere and rock record of Mars suggest a history of relatively high O2 as a result of photochemical processes, potentially overlapping with the range of O_2 concentrations used by biology. Europa may have accumulated high O_2 concentrations in its subsurface ocean due to the radiolysis of water ice at its surface. Recent modeling efforts suggest that coexisting water and O2 may be common on exoplanets, with confirmation from measurements of exoplanet atmospheres potentially coming soon. In all these cases, O_2 accumulates through abiotic processes—independent of water-oxidizing photosynthesis. We hypothesize that abiogenic O_2 may enhance the habitability of some planetary environments, allowing highly energetic aerobic respiration and potentially even the development of complex multicellular life which depends on it, without the need to first evolve oxygenic photosynthesis. This hypothesis is testable with further exploration and life-detection efforts on O_2-rich worlds such as Mars and Europa, and comparison to O_2-poor worlds such as Enceladus. This hypothesis further suggests a new dimension to planetary habitability: “Follow the Oxygen,” in which environments with opportunities for energy-rich metabolisms such as aerobic respiration are preferentially targeted for investigation and life detection.

Spectra from the Hubble Space Telescope show evidence for sodium chloride in material likely sourced from Europa’s interior., The potential habitability of Europa’s subsurface ocean depends on its chemical composition, which may be reflected in that of Europa’s geologically young surface. Investigations using Galileo Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer data led to the prevailing view that Europa’s endogenous units are rich in sulfate salts. However, recent ground-based infrared observations have suggested that, while regions experiencing sulfur radiolysis may contain sulfate salts, Europa’s more pristine endogenous material may reflect a chloride-dominated composition. Chlorides have no identifying spectral features at infrared wavelengths, but develop distinct visible-wavelength absorptions under irradiation, like that experienced on the surface of Europa. Using spectra obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope, we present the detection of a 450-nm absorption indicative of irradiated sodium chloride on the surface. The feature correlates with geologically disrupted chaos terrain, suggesting an interior source. The presence of endogenous sodium chloride on the surface of Europa has important implications for our understanding of its subsurface chemistry.

The segregation of bacteria, inorganic solutes, and total organic carbon between liquid water and ice during winter ice formation on lakes can significantly influence the concentration and survival of microorganisms in icy systems and their roles in biogeochemical processes. Our study quantifies the distributions of bacteria and solutes between liquid and solid water phases during progressive freezing. We simulated lake ice formation in mesocosm experiments using water from perennially (Antarctica) and seasonally (Alaska and Montana, United States) ice-covered lakes. We then computed concentration factors and effective segregation coefficients, which are parameters describing the incorporation of bacteria and solutes into ice. Experimental results revealed that, contrary to major ions, bacteria were readily incorporated into ice and did not concentrate in the liquid phase. The organic matter incorporated into the ice was labile, amino acid-like material, differing from the humic-like compounds that remained in the liquid phase. Results from a control mesocosm experiment (dead bacterial cells) indicated that viability of bacterial cells did not influence the incorporation of free bacterial cells into ice, but did have a role in the formation and incorporation of bacterial aggregates. Together, these findings demonstrate that bacteria, unlike other solutes, were preferentially incorporated into lake ice during our freezing experiments, a process controlled mainly by the initial solute concentration of the liquid water source, regardless of cell viability.