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On the Habitability and Future Exploration of Ocean Worlds

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Abstract

Liquid water oceans are now predicted to exist beneath the icy shells of numerous worlds in the outer solar system. These ocean worlds are prime targets in our search for evidence of life beyond Earth, and specifically extant life. Here we review the conditions that may lead to several of these worlds being habitable, and provide a framework for the future exploration of these astrobiologically compelling targets.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to, and would like to acknowledge the support of, the International Space Spaces Institute in Bern, Switzerland. KH and CS acknowledge the support of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. KH and CS also acknowledge the support of NASA’s ‘Exploring Ocean Worlds’ Research Coordinated Network, managed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (NASA Award Number: 80NSSC19K1427).

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  1. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA

    K. P. Hand & C. Sotin

  2. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    A. Hayes

  3. LESIA, PSL University, CNRS, Observatoire de Paris-Meudon, 5, pl. Jules Janssen, 92195, Meudon, France

    A. Coustenis

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Ocean Worlds

Edited by Athena Coustenis, Tilman Spohn, Rafael Rodrigo, Kevin P. Hand, Alexander Hayes, Karen Olsson-Francis, Frank Postberg, Christophe Sotin, Gabriel Tobie, Francois Raulin and Nicolas Walter

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Hand, K.P., Sotin, C., Hayes, A. et al. On the Habitability and Future Exploration of Ocean Worlds. Space Sci Rev 216, 95 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-020-00713-7

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