Future space missions have targeted Mars and Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter, as destinations to send new robotic explorers. According to an article published on SPACE.com on Oct. 12, these two may hold the best hopes for scientists trying to track down extraterrestrial life, at least in this solar system.

Writer Jeremy Hsu interviewed Professor Jack Farmer, an astrobiologist, for his opinions on where extraterrestrial life could be found first.

"We're much farther down the road with Mars than Europa," said Farmer. "My view is that habitable environments on Mars are likely to only be found in the deeper subsurface where we might have a hydrosphere."

"Europa's a very appealing target for astrobiology, and particularly from the standpoint of what life forms might be working in a sub-surface ocean," Farmer noted. "The challenge with Europa is that we don't know for sure if there's a sub-surface ocean."

Editor's Note: Links are included for informational purposes only. Due to varying editorial policies, news publications may remove or change a link for archival purposes at any time without notice.