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Jupiter’s moon Europa has been the subject of intense research and speculation ever since it was determined that this celestial body more than likely has a liquid ocean beneath its icy crust. NASA is in the process of planning a flyby mission to Europa, but now the agency is actively looking into adding a lander to the payload. Our first close encounter with Europa might be even closer than expected.

This news comes by way of Robert Pappalardo, a project scientist on NASA’s Europa project at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He says NASA is actively pursuing the possibility of a lander on the upcoming Europa mission, which could laun in the early 2020s. This aspect of the mission is still in the early phases. NASA is looking into the cost and feasibility of getting a payload to the surface of Europa, which could answer a lot of questions you just can’t adequately investigate from a flyby.

Europa is often cited as a possible home for alien life in our own solar system. Its surface is very smooth compared to other moons that lack an atmosphere. This indicates there is some sort of constant remodeling of the crust, which is believed to be about 50 miles thick. What makes this happen is still up in the air. Some scientists favor a model of Europa with a layer of warm convecting ice that slowly rises to the surface. However, most think there’s a liquid ocean under the surface that escapes through cracks in the ice sheet, and could harbor life. In either case, the heat to melt the ice comes from tidal stresses on Europa as it orbits Jupiter.

The draft Europa mission currently in the planning phase calls for a probe that would enter orbit of Jupiter, then make 45 flybys of Europa over the course of about 2.5 years. Some of these passes would be low enough that the probe could pass through a plume of water erupting from the moon, which is often observed when it is at its furthest point from Jupiter.

NASA scientists have previously expressed skepticism about including a lander on the flyby mission. We don’t know enough about the surface to design something that can survive long term (the eel-rover will have to wait). However, that doesn’t make much difference if all you need to do is reach the surface with a stationary instrument package. You could also simply run into the surface at high speed. NASA previously talked to the European Space Agency about the possibility of building an ice-impacting probe for the mission. This could help scientists characterize the surface of Europa without a traditional lander.

If NASA does end up adding a lander to the mission, it will be a low-cost addition rather than a main focus. There are still too many unknowns when it comes to Europa’s surface to put all our eggs in that basket. The data gathered from this mission could, however, give us what we need to make a true Europa lander mission possible in the future.

Read more http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/213575-nasa-is-considering-adding-a-lander-to-upcoming-europa-flyby-mission