What do most scientists believe about the possibility of life in Europas oceans?
This of course depends on when there was an ocean and how long it lasted (including up to the present). When the Viking craft went to Mars in 1976, most life scientists felt that to have a chance for extraterrestrial life you had to have light (for photosynthesis), liquid water, and oxygen. Since then we have discovered places on the Earth (ocean floor hydrothermal vents, geothermal hotsprings, etc.) where life is currently sustained in the dark, without oxygen, using the heat and chemical energy from volcanic fluids and water. Some of these life forms such as thermophillic (or heat loving) bacteria are among the most ancient types of life on Earth. Many scientists now speculate that life may actually have arisen under such conditions here on Earth. So, of course, we are now more interested in places like Mars and Europa where there may have been liquid water and volcanic activity as a place to look for primitive life.
