There has been a never-ending claim that extraterrestrial beings exist. And now, NASA is officially moving forward to find out if there's a big chance that alien life exists on Jupiter's icy moon, Europa.

Europa, Jupiter's most mysterious moon, is a moon that has a relatively warm ocean covered with a crust of ice. For years, it's been speculated that the moon is the best hope for humans to find evidence that extraterrestrial life exists outside of the living planet.

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Since in the late '90s, Europa was considered a potential hotspot for alien life. According to RT.com, NASA's Galileo mission found proof that a massive subsurface ocean might exist on Jupiter's moon that is similar to the size of Earth's own moon. However, there's one big difference—Europa could potentially have twice the amount of water found on Earth.

Scientists also think that Europa's ocean features salt water and makes contact with a rocky sea floor, just like on Earth. Additionally, they believe that the ocean is warmer than it would be if it only received heat from the sun, since strong tidal forces generate heat as they flex.

Since Jupiter's Europa has been calling NASA's name for years, the space agency announced Wednesday that they had finished sketching their plan to send a probe to Jupiter's fascinating moon. The agency also said that they are ready to put the operation into action.

"Today we're taking an exciting step from concept to mission, in our quest to find signs of life beyond Earth," NASA's Science Mission Directorate associate administrator John Grunsfeld said in a statement. "Observations of Europa have provided us with tantalizing clues over the last two decades, and the time has come to seek answers to one of humanity's most profound questions."

NASA said that they are planning to take a trip to Jupiter's Europa in the early 2020s. But as of the moment, The Register revealed that scientists are already excited about what could be discovered in the distant moon.

Unlike the manned mission portrayed in the movie, CNET reported that NASA initially plans to send an unmanned probe to orbit Jupiter, arriving several years later and making 45 flybys to study the surface and interior composition of Europa.

If all the aforementioned features are proven true, especially the possibility that life exists beneath the moon's frozen surface, the implications could be nothing short of existential.

Aside from being a promising candidate for alien life, Europa could also play a significant role in the future of space exploration. And if alien life exists in Europa, scientists said that it's almost certainly and completely independent from the origin of life on Earth, which means that the origin of life is quite easy throughout the galaxy and beyond.

TagsJupiter, Europa, extraterrestrial, Earth, Alien life, Science, Cosmos, Universe