NASA planning mission to explore life on Jupiter's moon

The US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration is planning an ambitious mission involving international scientists to explore the possibility of life on Europa, the moon of planet Jupiter.

"We are planning to mount an international effort. We are trying to formulate a mission to go Jupiter's giant moon Europa, because there are some scientists who believe in possibility of single-cell organisms being there in the waters of Europa.

"We don't care where we find life elsewhere in Europa, but just imagine what that says about us and life, if we found out whether life exists at other places in (the solar system)," NASA administrator Charles Frank Bolden said in New Delhi.

Europa is the sixth closest moon of Jupiter, and the smallest of its four satellites, and the sixth largest moon in the solar system.

The NASA chief said they are also hopeful of finding life on Mars.

"I hope we can go find single-cell organism. The reason we are looking at Mars is because it appears to most scientists that it is the most likely planet in our solar system that once harboured life, does harbour life or can support life. That's why (We are looking at) Mars," he said.