If Earth serves as a typical example of conditions elsewhere in the universe, life appears adaptable once it gains a foothold. Life proliferates across every corner of our planet, from lush forests and tropical seas to unexpected locations such as the deepest ocean trenches, frozen ice, and volcanic pools. However, regardless of its habitat, all life shares a common requirement: water.
Even when considering extraterrestrial life, such as the character Harry Vanderspeigle from SYFY’s Resident Alien, water remains a fundamental necessity. This limitation narrows the scope of potential habitats where we can search for life. Within our own solar system, water is abundant on Earth, and there are signs of it in subsurface oceans and surface ice on distant moons. Yet, beyond these known sources, opportunities for finding water seem scarce, or so we once believed.
Recent findings, utilizing data from NASA’s retired SOFIA observatory, have revealed water molecules on the surfaces of two asteroids for the first time. This discovery has significant implications for understanding water distribution within our solar system and for identifying potential habitats for life in other star systems.
The SOFIA Observatory, a collaboration between NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), was a unique airborne observatory housed within a modified Boeing 747SP aircraft. Flying at altitudes of 41,000 feet (12 kilometers), above much of the Earth’s atmospheric water vapor, SOFIA conducted infrared astronomy, a task challenging to perform from the ground due to atmospheric interference.
Although SOFIA was retired in 2022, scientists continue to analyze the data it collected. Recently, astronomers investigated four silicate-rich asteroids using SOFIA’s Faint Object InfraRed Camera (FORCAST). Their study confirmed water molecules on the surfaces of two of these asteroids, Iris and Massalia, marking a significant breakthrough in our understanding of water distribution in the inner solar system.
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