Io is one of Jupiter’s 79 moons. It has active volcanic activity, along with extremely high temperatures. And is covered with sulfur instead of oxygen. But space scientists now claim that alien life may be alive and well below the surface.

Io is just one of what’s known as the “Jovian” moons that orbit Jupiter. It is larger than the Earth's Moon. And the third largest of all Jupiter's moons. Keep in mind that Jupiter is hundreds of times larger than the Earth.

According to an online report in Big Think scientists say that Io has an active lava lake (maybe crusted over), a lava “curtain” in the atmosphere, calderas, mountains, plateaus, and plains. But it may have Microbial life deep underground. And the lava tubes that help deliver molten rock to the planet’s surface could house alien life.

20 years ago, NASA launched the unmanned Galileo spaceship to tour the Jovian system. And space scientists discovered that Io had hundreds of erupting volcanos. At that time it was deemed to be the least likely place in the universe to have alien life.

Now NASA has the Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter to study the massive planet and its large inner moons. Juno has been on this mission for the last 7 years. 

Alien life on Io

Jupiter’s four largest moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. They are named after Greco-Roman deities. 

The Juno mission captured the Jupiter moon's stormy atmosphere were initially in close fly-bys. Juno recently flew by Io at a distance of 80,000 km (49,709 miles). And in 2023 they will get much closer, within 1,500 km (932 miles).

Until the latest flybys astrobiologists believed that Europa and Ganymede (other Jupiter moons) had a better chance of having life. They both have subsurface oceans.

 But now the scientists are researching the idea that the volcanic moon could have underground life. And it would most likely be in the lava tubes that send the molten rock and lava to the surface of Jupiter’s moon.

The terrifying fiery images of Io emerged last month. And NASA’s scientists will get an even better look at the planet’s surface this year. And many of them are convinced that alien life in the form of microbial ecosystems exists on those deeper levels.

Here on Earth, similar types of life thrive.

 Some of the eruptions on the Jovian moon are so violent that they send magma hundreds of miles into space. Regardless, alien life may very well live there. But there is little or no chance that humans will be able to land on Io.