NASA is planning a joint mission with the European Space Agency to study potential signs of life on Jupiter’s Europa moon, New Scientist reported Monday.Andy Coghlan writes Michel Blanc, a scientist at France’s Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology, said at the annual European Geosciences Union meeting that the Joint Europa Mission could be deployed in mid-2020s for a more than six-year expedition.
Blanc added an orbiter craft will deliver a lander on Europa’s surface to sample and screen material for biosignatures and the orbiter will subsequently take laser, magnetic and seismic measurements of Jupiter over a three-month period.
The orbiter would crash into Europa after gathering data on the composition of the moon’s atmosphere to identify potential life-related gases such as carbon dioxide and oxygen, Coghan reported.
NASA plans to design the lander and collaborate with ESA to build other mission components, according to Blanc.
