Is ALIEN LIFE possible?

*Warning: AL JAZEERA AMERICA presentation*

The world went crazy with alien fever after Nasa revealed it had found water flowing on the Red Planet.

Space boffins believe the cosmic rivers and waterfalls could be teeming with little green men – right NOW.

But some astronomers have questioned the claim – and fingered an icy moon at the far end of the Solar System as even MORE likely to support extraterrestrial life.

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GIANT: Jupiter with two of its moons – Io and Europa

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MOON RIVER: Mars may have a few trickles of water – but Europa is COVERED

DAILY STAR

BLUE PLANET: Our graphc shows how Europa has more water than Earth and makes Mars look like ...

“It's possible actually that the chances of life today are better on Europa than on Mars.”

UK Space Agency research fellow Dr Lewis Dartnell

Jupiter's moon Europa – which is COVERED with water – offers the best home to space beings.

UK Space Agency research fellow Dr Lewis Dartnell – who is busy building space bot to hunt Martians – said: "If you look beyond Mars to the outer Solar System – to the gas giants – it's not the planets themselves but their icy moons where life might be.

"In particular it's Europa – which orbits Jupiter.

"It has a GLOBAL ocean. Europa has more water than EARTH.

"In many ways it is the Waterworld of our Solar System."

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RED PLANET: Two thirds of Mars's northern hemisphere was once ocean

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A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT: The dark patches show water on Mars

The water on Mars must be extremely salty to remain liquid in temperatures that plummet below -100C – just as humans throw salt on our driveways to melt ice in winter.

Dr Dartnell – of the University of Leicester – warned it could be TOO salty for life to survive.

But Europa has vast stellar seas that could support alien FISH.

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ICEBERG AHEAD: The crust of Europa is thought to be made of blocks of ice that move

Dr Dartnell – who is designing laser eyes for the European Space Agency's ExoMars Rover – said: "It's possible actually that the chances of life today are better on Europa than on Mars.

"Because even though we see signs of trickling water on Mars today – on Europa there is MUCHmore.

"It's probably much more habitable."

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BRITS ABROAD: The ESA's ExoMars Rover could see a Brit boffin discover aliens ahead of Nasa

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CONTACT: Nasa and the ESA are racing to find alien life first

Europa – which is slightly smaller than the Moon – is about 485million miles from the Sun and its astral ocean is covered by a crust of ice several MILES thick.

But the water below remains liquid below as the force of gravity from Jupiter – the largest planet in the Solar System – is so massive it squashes and squeezes the satellite, warming it up.

It is hard to believe life could exist under the freezing crust but it can – as it does on Earth.

Life survives inside giant icebergs and under eternally frozen lakes in the Antarctic.

Europa also has an atmosphere of oxygen and "clay-like" minerals in its crust.

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DEEP BLUE: Life survives deep under Earth's oceans and under ice sheets – far from light – a...

LEWIS DARTNELL

PROF: Dr Lewis Dartnell – of the University of Leicester

The ESA – which hopes to beat Nasa in the race to find aliens on Mars – is already planning a mission to hunt for life on Europa.

The Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer – JUICE – which will complete a number of flybys of the satellite is due to launch in 2022.

Nasa's Europa Clipper mission – which may land on Europa and try to drill or melt through the ice – is set for take off in the mid 2020s.