NASA seeks life on planets and moons

Despite Stephen Hawking's recent warning about the dangers of making contact with advanced alien life, NASA is moving forward with plans to seek life on planets and moons -- in particular, Europa, Jupiter's sixth moon. Europa is covered with ice, and astronomers now think that a sea of water, and possibly living organisms, lies under the ice layers.

This enhanced color photo of Europa was taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft. This image provides a good view of Europa's surface.

Credit: NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org.

Related TechRepublic Geekend post: Hawking warns that aliens may not be nice.