The Europa Lander Science Definition Team Report presents the integrated results of an intensive science and engineering team effort to develop and optimize a mission concept that would follow the Europa Multiple Flyby Mission and conduct the first in situ search for evidence of life on another world since the Viking spacecraft on Mars in the 1970s.
The Europa Lander mission would be a pathfinder for characterizing the biological potential of Europa ocean through direct study of any chemical, geological, and possibly biological, signatures as expressed on, and just below, the surface of Europa. The search for signs of life on Europa surface requires an analytical payload that performs quantitative organic compositional, microscopic, and spectroscopic analysis on five samples acquired from at least 10 cm beneath the surface, with supporting context imaging observations.
This mission would significantly advance our understanding of Europa as an ocean world, even in the absence of any definitive signs of life, and would provide the foundation
for the future robotic exploration of Europa.
Jupiter moon Europa is a prime target in our exploration of potentially habitable worlds beyond Earth. Europa, which is approximately the size of Earth moon, very likely harbors a global, About 100 km deep, liquid water ocean beneath its relatively thin (less than 25 km) ice shell.
This ocean exists today and it has possibly persisted for much of the history of the solar system. Europa ocean is probably in contact with a rocky, silicate seafloor, which may lead to an ocean rich in the elements and energy needed for the emergence of life, and for potentially sustaining life through time.
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