The new, lower oxygen estimates do not support the earlier observations. The team involved in the study said more research will be needed to confirm the latest findings. This image made available by NASA shows the complex, ice-covered surface of Jupiter's moon Europa, captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft during a flyby on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/SWRI/MSSS via AP) Scott Bolton is a Juno investigator at the Southwest Research Institute and a co-writer of the study. He said in a statement that the teams new findings have a direct effect on the possibility that Europa could be habitable. While the oxygen amounts measured were much lower, the latest study gives scientists a narrow range that could support habitability, Bolton said. Princeton University researcher Jamey Szalay was the studys lead writer. He said, The findings unambiguously demonstrate oxygen is continuously produced at the surface, just a good bit lower than we expected.

Szalay added that Junos flyby of Europa marked the first time a spacecraft was able to directly measure the moons atmosphere. We couldnt wait to peek behind the curtain of its complex environment, he wrote to The Associated Press in an email. The researchers said the new measurements can help scientists gain a better understanding of Europa and its environment, and open the door for newer, more precise models. A composite image shows suspected plumes of water vapor being released from Jupiter's moon Europa in a NASA Hubble Space Telescope picture taken January 26, 2014. (NASA/ESA/W. Sparks (STScI)/USGS Astrogeology Science Center/Handout via Reuters)

Robert Ebert is a researcher at the Southwest Research Institute and a co-writer of the study. He said that even with the new results, he believes further investigations should take place to search for signs of life on Europa. Water is important for the existence of life Europa is a good place to search for water within our solar system. NASA hopes to launch its Europa Clipper mission in October. This orbiter is designed to carry out close examinations of Europa. It will look for signs it might hold the right conditions to support life. NASA says the orbiter plans to fly in orbit around Jupiter and perform repeated close flybys of the ice moon.