âToday weâre taking an exciting step from concept to mission, in our quest to find signs of life beyond Earth,â said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASAâs Washington-based science mission directorate.
The space agency said Thursday it expects a future spacecraft to perform 45 flybys by 2020 as part of the mission plan to gather images of the planetâs Europa moon in order study its icy surfaceâs structure and composition.
On May 26, NASA selected nine proposed scientific instruments to board a spacecraft for the planned mission to Europa.
The agencyâs Jet Propulsion Laboratory oversees the Europa flyby mission project.