Space & Astronomy

Joint life-seeking Europa mission proposed

By T.K. Randall
April 30, 2017

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Unveiled last week by Michel Blanc from France's Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology, the ambitious mission would be a joint venture involving both ESA and NASA.

Lasting more than six years, the mission would consist of three major elements.

The first - a lander - would touch down on Europa's surface where it would spend over a month analyzing samples for signs of extraterrestrial life.Meanwhile, an orbiter would spend three months taking measurements and learning as much as possible about Europa, its surface and its mysterious subterranean ocean.

The final stage of the mission would see the orbiter deliberately colliding with Europa while taking measurements of its atmospheric composition during the descent.

"The whole idea is that if we think exploring Europa for life is important, it should be an international adventure," said Blanc. "The ultimate goal is to get to the surface and look for biosignatures of life."

Source: New Scientist

Tags: Europa, Jupiter