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Antarctica’s Lake Vostok is Test Case for Exploring Icy Jupiter Moon

Russian scientists in Antarctica have reached a lake that’s been buried in ice for more than 14 million years — a milestone that could provide hints of what to expect when the ocean under the icy crust of Jupiter’s moon, Europa, is similarly explored.

After more than a decade of drilling, the team broke through the ice on Feb. 5, reaching a hidden cache of water known as Lake Vostok that has been cut off from the surface since an ice sheet covered it between 14 million and 34 million years ago. The isolated lake bears similarities to features on Europa, whose icy surface is thought to hide a liquid ocean layer.

“When it comes to Europa, there’s no better analog on Earth than Lake Vostok,” Kevin Hand, deputy chief scientist of solar system exploration for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said. “In both cases, the liquid water envelope trapped beneath the ice is cut off from the sun,” he said.