NASA Appointed Team Set Out Priorities For a Europa Surface Mission

astroengine writes "Europa has only been seen from afar, but its aura of intrigue has inspired scientists to study ideas as to how to explore the icy Jovian moon. In a new study published in the journal Astrobiology [paper], a NASA-appointed science definition team lays out the rich tapestry of discovery facing any mission to study Europa, but what questions do we need answering? 'If one day humans send a robotic lander to the surface of Europa, we need to know what to look for and what tools it should carry,' said Robert Pappalardo, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and the study's lead author. 'There is still a lot of preparation that is needed before we could land on Europa, but studies like these will help us focus on the technologies required to get us there, and on the data needed to help us scout out possible landing locations. Europa is the most likely place in our solar system beyond Earth to have life today, and a landed mission would be the best way to search for signs of life.'"

Comments

Search for life

[girlintraining]

As we've discovered, life is pretty resiliant. It can survive in a vaccum, it can survive radiation, it can feed on all kinds of chemicals and environments... and every year we discover life has found a new way to exist in a previously-thought inhospitable environment. We even have self-replicating proteins (prions) that are so resistant that medical tools used on someone infected with mad cow have to be thrown away after, because they can't be adequately disinfected.

I'd be very interested in knowing how NASA plans on disinfecting its spacecraft prior to launch so it doesn't wind up detecting now, or years or centuries down the line, what we brought with us.

Re:Search for life

[girlintraining]

Google can be helpful. So can wikipedia.

(clicks link) Except when it isn't.

Result 1: Disinfection of Spacecraft Potable Water Systems... which is inside the spacecraft, not the spacecraft itself. And it's a PDF.

Result 2: Microbial Monitoring and Disinfection aboard NASA Spacecraft... sounds promising, but it's paywalled. For $17.50 though I might be able to get access to a dense academic tomb. Thanks, Google!

Result 3: Corrosion control and disinfection studies in spacecraft water systems... ah, another example of water system disinfection, not spacecraft decontamination.

In fact, the first several pages of google results are completely useless at answering the question of how do you disinfect the entire spacecraft?

*sigh* A few years ago I'd have said "you should read your links before you post them."

Re:Search for life

[buchner.johannes]

Result 2: Microbial Monitoring and Disinfection aboard NASA Spacecraft... sounds promising, but it's paywalled. For $17.50 though I might be able to get access to a dense academic tomb. Thanks, Google!

I put the name into Scholar, and found a (free) PDF by the same author, 5 years later than that article.
It is comparing bacterial and fungal contamination of ISS, Mir and Shuttle missions.

Perhaps you are searching with the wrong keywords. Try "sterilization of spacecraft".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_protection

Re:Search for life

[ShanghaiBill]

We even have self-replicating proteins (prions) that are so resistant that medical tools used on someone infected with mad cow have to be thrown away after, because they can't be adequately disinfected.

Prions are not "self-replicating" unless they are inside a cow, or other suitable host. They pose no threat of contamination, unless Europa has cows (and yes, I know all about the white bull: wrong Europa).

Re:Search for life

[thereitis]

I read recently that NASA basically catalogs what bacteria it can't eradicate and if it finds those bacteria on an alien planet will have to assume the source was contamination. I'm not sure how they'd plan to handle centuries from now if they found a descendent bacteria that was mostly unrecognizable from the original, cataloged bacteria.

2010

[bmo]

ALL THESE WORLDS
ARE YOURS EXCEPT
EUROPA
ATTEMPT NO
LANDING THERE

Filter error: Don't use so many caps. Filter error: Don't use so many caps. Filter error: Don't use so many caps.

Re:2010

[K. S. Kyosuke]

Filter error: Don't use so many caps. Filter error: Don't use so many caps. Filter error: Don't use so many caps.

Imagine what would have happened had the puny Earthlings' communication network rejected HAL's message due to a triggered lameness filter.

Re:2010

[techno-vampire]

What I'd like to see even more is an argument between the Borg and the Vogons about whether resistance is futile or useless. Personally, my money's on the Vogons; pure, unadulterated, bloody-minded stubbornness has its uses, sometimes.

Streetligth effect

[gmuslera]

Could be life there, but, we will search for it in the right places? Some potential places for life could be hard to reach for a robotic probe that we could send. And will we be able to recognize it as life, if is different enough from what we have here?

Could they send some bloody microphones?

[gestalt_n_pepper]

The only thing we could missing is the sound of a thousand alien mating frogs.

#1 tool a robot probe could carry to Europa:

[tlambert]

#1 tool a robot probe could carry to Europa: a human.

Seriously, is it any wonder no one watches launches any more?

Watching a robot probe go anywhere is "Great, Skynet explores another planet without us: big deal".

Re:#1 tool a robot probe could carry to Europa:

[cpt kangarooski]

Humans would quickly die of radiation poisoning on the surface of Europa if they didn't have lots of shielding. Jupiter has massive radiation belts that basically make everything inside of the orbit of Callisto off limits to us.

Lets stick with unmanned probes for now.

Re:#1 tool a robot probe could carry to Europa:

[miniMUNCH]

In addition to the significant radiation problem (pointed out already).

The spacecraft changes from something the size of a small car for a robotic mission to something much more massive to support human life for the 6+ year trip to Europa.

We simply don't have the "technology <--> budget" combo to do a manned mission to Europa within the first half of this century. We need major game-changing tech breakthroughs to carry out a human mission even to Mars, let alone the Jovian planets.

A a robotic landing mission to Europa is technically feasible right now given a sufficient budget. We don't have all the technology properly glued together: but we can navigate a 'mother ship' spacecraft to Jupiter, can maneuver the craft to make numerous precision passes of Europa, we have autonomous vehicle control theory and codes which can improved upon and readied for a Europa landing, and we can design and fabricate the spacecraft. There are some serious challenges, of course, and success is not guaranteed, but it is doable.

Re:#1 tool a robot probe could carry to Europa:

[betterprimate]

I would vote flowers. Think of recording the exposure of plant life on the surface of Europa; a demonstration of the resiliency of life. If anything else, the footage would be absolutely beautiful and fantastic.

Priorities

[betterprimate]

Can we give the NSA, DHS, CIA budget to NASA? You know, let's do something as a people. The only difference between the U.S. and other great empires, is that the U.S. government and leaders give fuck all about artistic, philosophical, and scientific endeavors. You know, the stuff that gives us dignity as a people. They use to. Or at least pretended to.

Man, do I oft times wish I lived in a different culture. I'm sick of this fascist corporate utilitarianism. What's the progress? The only thing the U.S. gave to the world was done by our impoverished and enslaved. Now, we can't even have viable land to grow for our personal needs.

France could sound cool; you have to give props to a culture that created Joan of Arc. What current cultures are there that welcome such endeavors? Really, I want to know.