NASA unveils science instruments for life-searching Europa mission

U.S. space agency NASA announced Tuesday it has selected nine science instruments for a mission to Europa aimed at investigating if Jupiter's icy moon could harbor conditions suitable for life.

Previous missions have yielded strong evidence that Europa, about the size of Earth's moon, has an ocean beneath a frozen crust of unknown thickness. This has led to NASA to consider it as "the best place in the solar system to look for present day life beyond our home planet."

"Europa has tantalized us with its enigmatic icy surface and evidence of a vast ocean, following the amazing data from 11 flybys of the Galileo spacecraft over a decade ago and recent Hubble observations suggesting plumes of water shooting out from the moon," John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement.

"We're excited about the potential of this new mission and these instruments to unravel the mysteries of Europa in our quest to find evidence of life beyond Earth."

Under NASA's plan, a solar-powered spacecraft will be sent into a long, looping orbit around the gas giant Jupiter to perform repeated close flybys of Europa over a three-year period. The launch could take place as early as 2022.

In total, the mission would perform 45 flybys at altitudes ranging from 16 miles to 1,700 miles (25 kilometers to 2,700 kilometers).

The payload of selected science instruments includes cameras and spectrometers to produce high-resolution images of Europa's surface and determine its composition, NASA said.

An ice penetrating radar will determine the thickness of the moon's icy shell and search for subsurface lakes similar to those beneath Antarctica.

The mission also will carry a magnetometer to measure strength and direction of the moon's magnetic field, which will allow scientists to determine the depth and salinity of its ocean.

A thermal instrument will scour Europa's frozen surface in search of recent eruptions of warmer water, while additional instruments will search for evidence of water and tiny particles in the moon's thin atmosphere.

"This is a giant step in our search for oases that could support life in our own celestial backyard," said Curt Niebur, NASA's Europa program scientist. "We're confident that this versatile set of science instruments will produce exciting discoveries on a much-anticipated mission."

NASA's fiscal year 2016 budget request includes 30 million U.S. dollars for the Europa mission. NASA officials estimated Tuesday the total cost would be over 2 billion dollars, not including the launch vehicle. Endite