Conceptual design of a Europa Lander mission

A Europa Lander mission has been assigned high priority for the post-2005 time frame in NASA's Space Science Enterprise Strategic Plan. Its primary scientific goals are to characterize the surface material from a recent outflow and look for evidence of pre-biotic and possibly biotic chemistry. The mission concept involves landing a single spacecraft on the surface of Europa with the capability to acquire samples of material from 1 meter below the surface, perform detailed chemical analysis of the samples, and transmit the results directly to Earth. Because of the large velocity change required (4 km/sec), the propulsion system comprises over 85% of the 1000 kg launch mass. The spacecraft will require novel, lightweight, radiation-tolerant components; new devices for acquiring, distributing, and processing surface material; miniaturized organic chemistry instruments; and capability to perform an autonomous precision landing on Europa's hazardous surface.