All articles tagged with #nasa dawn mission
New research suggests that billions of years ago, the dwarf planet Ceres may have had the right ingredients and energy sources to support simple microbial life, due to past hydrothermal activity driven by radioactive decay, despite its current icy and cold state.
NASA's Dawn mission revealed that Ceres, the largest object in the Asteroid Belt, may have supported single-celled life 2.5 to 4 billion years ago due to a once-active subsurface water reservoir heated by radioactive decay, although it likely no longer has an internal ocean today.
NASA research suggests that Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt, may have supported single-celled life 2.5 to 4 billion years ago due to a once-present subsurface water reservoir heated by radioactive decay, despite being too cold now to sustain liquid water.
New NASA research suggests that Ceres, the largest asteroid in the belt, may have had a long-lasting source of chemical energy in its past, potentially supporting microbial life, due to a steady supply of hot, mineral-rich water from its interior, although current conditions are too cold for habitability.