It could be at least 15 years before NASA lands a mission on Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, to search for signs of life beneath its icy crust. In the mean time, a team led by astrobiologist Kevin Hand of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is using ultra-chilled vacuum chambers to simulate what Europa’s surface might be like. Their work will inform future missions and give scientists clues to how they might detect life on a faraway moon.