Was Hoagland the First to Think of Life in Europas Ocean?
Europa is a moon of Jupiter. It’s roughly the same size as our own Moon. However, it’s pretty different from what we’re used to! When the Voyager probes took images of Europa, most astronomers were surprised to find that it looked like Europa was covered with a sheet of ice, with evidence that underneath that ice was liquid water! Years later, observations by the Galileo probe confirmed this. Most astronomers now have little doubt the ocean exists, though there is a lot of arguing about how deep it is, its composition, etc. This result is very exciting, because biologists think life on Earth got started in liquid water, and most life needs liquid water to survive. An ocean of water on Europa has obvious implications… If life exists on another planet or moon, then whoever thought of this idea first will get some credit for it. Anyone claiming they thought of it first could say this to help bolster their credibility. Enter Hoagland. Hoagland has claimed that he was the first to think o
