Oceans outside the Earth

We often look to Mars as the most promising place to look for life outside of Earth, but recent exploratory missions have shown that the most habitable bodies in the Solar System lie much further out in space. Under the icy crust of the moons of Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune, huge subsurface oceans are hidden, which together contain 50 times more liquid water than all the oceans on Earth. The lower surface of this ice crust is like the bottom of the sea, only turned upside down, there may well exist an environment rich in ecological niches. Drawing on his own explorations of Earth's oceans, Hand ponders what life is, what tools are needed to find it, and what it might be like on those distant icy worlds.

Oceans Beyond Earth is a fascinating science story about how the combination of planetary science, biology and engineering is expanding our understanding of space, the oceans and, indeed, life itself.