Earlier this month, two NASA missions gave us new insight into the icy, wet worlds of Enceladus and Europa.
But NASA is already thinking about the next mission to Europa.
In February, NASA received a report detailing a Europa Lander Concept.
Quick note: Despite not making the proposed budget from the White House, the NASA team studying the lander mission will continue their work.
Let’s take a deeper look at the objectives of a Europa lander mission and how the mission will deal with planetary protection protocols.
The second goal will assess Europa’s habitability of Europa using in situ techniques (measurements taken within the environment around the lander) only possible with a lander mission.
How would NASA make sure tiny Earth microbes aren’t hitching a ride with the Europa lander? »