Where Should NASA Search for Extraterrestrial Life? Underground, A New Report Says

This artist's concept shows Jupiter's moon Europa. Researchers believe that a vast, liquid ocean could exist below the moon's icy surface. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) We usually associate habitability with terrestrial, Earth-like planets, but what if completely different environments are capable of harboring life? A new report released by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) recommends that NASA search these disregarded worlds for signs of life. With the recent discovery of an underground lake on Mars and suspected subsurface oceans on Jupiter and Saturn’s moons, the committee thinks that studying all sorts of environments, not just those that mimic Earth's, could uncover life in unexpected places.