Is K2-18b covered in oceans of water or oceans of lava?

In the search for potentially life-supporting exoplanets, liquid water is the key indicator. Life on Earth requires liquid water, and scientists strongly believe the same is true elsewhere. But from a great distance, it's ...

Surface of Saturnian moon Enceladus shields buried organics

The Saturnian moon Enceladus presents a unique opportunity in our solar system to search for evidence of life, given its habitable ocean and plume that deposits organic-bearing ocean material onto the surface.

Digging deeper to find life on ocean worlds

In February 2023, researchers from around the country gathered at a NASA-sponsored workshop to discuss the latest developments and a roadmap for a cryobot mission concept to drill through the icy crusts of Europa and Enceladus ...

Digging water channels in mineral stishovite

Stishovite has the same chemical formula as silica quartz (SiO2) but it has much higher density. While SiO2 is abundant on Earth's crust, it is also a major component of basalt, a type of igneous rock that is rich in iron ...

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