What if Europa's seafloor isn't alive with activity after all?

We'll discuss this week on Planetary Radio.

I'm Sarah al-Ahmed of the Planetary Society, with more of the human adventure across our solar system and beyond.

This week, I'm joined by Paul Byrne, an associate professor of Earth, environmental, and planetary

sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. We'll talk about new research that suggests that the

seafloor of Jupiter's moon Europa might be far quieter than scientists

once hoped. And we'll talk about what that might mean for habitability beneath that moon's icy shell.

We'll discuss how planetary geology shapes the potential for life on ocean worlds and why a geologically

quiet Europa is still absolutely worth exploring. Then Bruce Betts, our chief scientist, joins me for what's up.

Europa's seafloor might be quiet, but Saturn's moon Enceladus is an entirely different story.

We'll talk a bit about the evidence for why we think there might be active hydrothermal vents within that moon.

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Before we get on to our main topic for today, I wanted to keep you all updated on the progress

for the Artemis II mission that's going to be flying humans around the moon soon.

NASA's moved off of that February launch window after a 49-hour wet dress rehearsal that ran from January 31st

through February 2nd. There was a liquid hydrogen leak during the fueling, so NASA is now targeting March as the earliest possible launch.

We'll have many more lunar updates as we approach this launch, so keep your fingers crossed and send all of your best wishes to all of the Artemis crew.

But back to the topic of Europa.

It's one of the most promising ocean worlds on our solar system.

Beneath that fractured icy shell lies a vast global ocean,

one that may contain more liquid water than all of Earth's oceans combined.

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