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ESA Selects Next Generation Space Missions
davecl writes "The European Space Agency has announced the results of its Cosmic Visions 2015-2025 call for proposals. Fifty space science missions for the next decade were proposed, with just seven selected. They range from X-ray and far-infrared observatories to planet finders and a near-earth asteroid sample return mission. These seven, together with the LISA gravitational wave observatory, will go ahead for further study in the next few years, and then two will be chosen for launch in 2015-2017."
Yes, but neither Laplace nor NASA's proposed Europa Orbiter will answer the question of whether there is life on Europa. The upper few meters of Europa's surface have been effectively sterilized by particle radiation from Jupiter's magnetosphere, removing all trace of life that may have made its way to the surface. Most plausible life on Europa would likely be much deeper, within the internal ocean. To answer THE question WRT Europa would require a lander and probably a sub.
The Gish Bar Times - Blog covering Jupiter's moon Io
It is very wierd indeed, that Europe, being a massive economy world wide, only can affort marginal space efforts. ESA should be at least as ambitious as NASA, but it is not.
For one, they are relatively new at it. NASA's been doing lots of missions for a long time. Europe has only been lightly dabbling so far.
Second, is that they have more beurocracy because they want to make sure member countries get an equal share. It is sort of like the Osprey military project in the US where states all wanted a shake and also helped lobby to keep it alive despite unsolved safety problems. NASA has a little of that, but has learned to work around it and reduce it over the decades.
Table-ized A.I.
Let me be the first to say : what about a manned mission to Mars? I don't care that it's more efficient and easy to send robots, I don't care that it would have little scientific justification, I want human beings to go there just because it would be mind-blowingly awesome!
While cool, personally I get more satisfaction out of seeing new worlds. I was totally psyched when the Titan Huygens lander mission started posting photos on the internet. This was a new, cloudy world never before seen from under the clouds and the probe was even designed to float in case it landed in a hydrocarbon ocean. Thus, there was a small chance we'd see it bobbing up and down in liquid. (Unfortunately, it didn't land in the area of the probable active lakes, but only dried ones.)
A mission that explores the underground oceans of icy moons of the gas giants would be cool also. Or finding and seeing the spectrum of earth-like planets in other systems thru special telescopes. That's the kind of thing I'd rather see the money spent on: brand new discoveries and worlds are like prying the lid off of a large stone box found under an ancient pyramid. It is just more Eureka moments per dollar.
As far as public interest, finding an Earth-like planet around another star would result in Saturday morning cartoons, comic books, movies about settlers, etc. It would be like the mystique of Mars before Mariner 4 showed how dry Mars was.
Table-ized A.I.
I'm afraid it might take a bit more then that. Feasibility speaking landing a probe on europa isn't *that* difficult. Nothing to scoff at, but certainly within our limits. Automated drilling through the ice, though? And this is more then a few meters to find liquid water. How exactly do we *do* that? Then the sub. How do you power it? Not solar. Nuclear would make a big stink with environmentalists (bringing nuclear waste on your search for life!?) if you could even *get* a nuclear powered up that far (reactors aren't small...). No air, so that pretty much leaves batteries. How long can we have a sub explore with batteries? A day or two at most?
No, there are problems that need to be solved before we can explore europa for life. And one of those problems is solved by landing on it and just looking at the surface a bit. Is it stable? Could something sit on its surface for a few months without trouble? How hard is it?
But the search for life on europa isn't something to plan for "this decade."
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