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European Space Agency Invited To Contribute a Lander To NASA's Europa Clipper

Posted by samzenpus on from the joining-the-party dept.

MarkWhittington writes According to a story in Spaceflight Now, NASA has invited the European Space Agency to participate in its upcoming Europa Clipper project. Europa Clipper, pushed by Rep. John Culberson, the chair of the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees NASA, recently received backing from the Obama administration. Europa Clipper would launch in the early 2020s and would be placed in an orbit around Jupiter that would cause it to fly by Europa, a moon of Jupiter, at least 45 times during its operational life.

33 comments

  1. In Before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Except Europa: Attempt No Landings There.

  2. Not surprising by arth1 · · Score: 1

    Call me a cynic, but I would think this is less of reaching out a hand than trying to find ways to offset the costs.

    1. Re:Not surprising by buchner.johannes · · Score: 2

      I don't get why this article is on slashdot. Is it because the average reader might think ESA has not contributed to NASA missions before? Because it is the first time a lander may be the contribution? I don't think these are the case, NASA rarely does any mission without collaborations.

      --
      NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
    2. Re: Not surprising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The reason may be that they already know they'll discover life but it takes years to get a mission there. So with such amazing news they'll need a second set of evidence to ease Hillary into believing them.

    3. Re:Not surprising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not even that, ESA built the Huygens lander that visited Titan.

    4. Re:Not surprising by chihowa · · Score: 2

      It's a trap.

      When Europe gets the blame for ATTEMPTING A LANDING, ALL THE REST OF THESE WORLDS ARE BELONG TO US ! ! !

      Either that, or there's a loophole where it's ok for Europe to land on Europa.

      --
      If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
    5. Re:Not surprising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why not call the EU? Wasn't Francis Drake a talented pirate a.k.a. explorer? There be booty on Jupiter!

    6. Re:Not surprising by rtb61 · · Score: 2

      NASA is a fine tool with which to start repairing a severely damaged reputation and to draw attention away from the totally out of control US military industrial complex. A commercial dive into space is likely the only thing that could preserve elements of US lead economics. All other facets of that are evaporating as we speak under the harsh glare of exposed high level corruption.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    7. Re:Not surprising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't get why this article is on slashdot.

      Because building a lander for a Jovian moon is cool news? Because a lander+orbiter is better than just an orbiter?

      The news here is not that NASA and ESA are working together, but that a project that was previously going to just be an orbiter prospecting for possible landing sites for some yet planned further future project might be able to include a lander.

    8. Re:Not surprising by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Call me a cynic, but I would think this is less of reaching out a hand than trying to find ways to offset the costs.

      Both seem good reasons to me. Why complain?

      Note we did similar with the Galileo Saturn probe carrying the Huygens Titan lander.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    9. Re:Not surprising by websitebroke · · Score: 1

      I think you mean Cassini-Huygens? Galileo was a Jupiter probe.

    10. Re:Not surprising by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Thanks for correcting that.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    11. Re:Not surprising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Huygens and Rosetta have demonstrate that the ESA can design working landers for essentially unknown environments. Both landers worked although it turned out after their launch that the data on the expected environment was much more unreliable than initially thought. Has NASA done something similar in the last decades? I don't know any comparable mission, but that doesn't say much.

    12. Re:Not surprising by gstoddart · · Score: 1

      So, basically the same as the F35 then?

      Get a bunch of suckers to help pay for the development of your unicorn, so you don't have to pay for it all.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  3. Re:Hillary is going to want veto power... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    She won't get the chance

  4. Re:Hillary is going to want veto power... by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 2

    I strongly suspect she'd be a big fan of the Space: 1999 style unisex pantssuit.

    Hillary Clinton's pantsuits through the ages

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    #DeleteChrome
  5. Please ESA, stay away from NASA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Please ESA, stay away from ethically challenged NASA.
    ESA and NASA had an agreement for NASA to provide a landing system (sky-crane like) for its upcoming Exo Mars lander.
    NASA cancelled its participation for lack of funds and then, a few months later, announced their own Mars lander (MSL-2, almost a duplicate to Curiosity).
    Just imagine if you had a business partnership with someone and he/she withdrew from the deal for lack of funds. Ok, that might be a good reason, but not if your then ex-partner went on to announce its own pretty similar product a few months later.
    That left ESA in the lurch and in need of a landing system. They signed up with the Russians whose recent lack of success in space missions doesn't actually feel me with confidence for the ExoMars.
    See here :
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExoMars

    1. Re:Please ESA, stay away from NASA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1
      NASA pulled out of ExoMars due to budget limitations and concerns that the budgeting for ExoMars was too tight with no allowances for overruns. The replacement, Mars 2020, launches in 2020, instead of two launches in 2016 and 2018, giving extra years to spread the costs over, and saving money by using spare parts from a previous mission, with the total cost including launch being about the same as NASA would have spent on ExoMars not including launch or operation costs. The ESA was already in talks and signed a backup deal with Russia before NASA pulled out, so they were already prepared for that scenario.

      ex-partner went on to announce its own pretty similar product a few months later.

      It is one thing to announce something, it is another to actually produce it, in this case years later.

    2. Re:Please ESA, stay away from NASA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...but NASA have successfully provided instruments for, say, the Rosetta probe. Both agencies can collaborate on things where possible, some plans go ahead and some don't. There are multi-national instruments on board Curiosity too. What's the problem?

  6. Can't Veto Stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Too bad nobody has veto power over your abject fucking retardation...

  7. Re:Hillary is going to want veto power... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    She won't get the chance

    You are correct.

    There is no way she will ever be elected.

  8. Units by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Decide on them ahead of time and stick to that decision, please.

  9. Space Racism? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    NASA only invites ESA on the Europa Clipper mission

    Japan has successfully sent up a spacecraft collecting comet dusts and returned them back to planet Earth

    India has successfully sent up a spacecraft which currently orbiting planet MARS

    Why only inviting ESA and not Japan nor India?

    Another case of SPACE RACISM , perhaps?

    1. Re:Space Racism? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      because they didn't make a landing yet while esa sent a probe both on titan (Huygens) and on a comet (Philae)?

  10. USA just wants ESA to do the dirty work! by fantomas · · Score: 1

    Hey, I've seen the movie, so it's true. USA wants to explore Europa - but to get ESA to do the dirty work and take the hit when the Europans get angry with the Europeans!

    ALL THESE WORLDS
    ARE YOURS EXCEPT
    EUROPA
    ATTEMPT NO
    LANDING THERE
    USE THEM TOGETHER
    USE THEM IN PEACE

  11. Re:Sniff the wind by Convector · · Score: 2

    The solar wind never gets anywhere near Jupiter's atmosphere. Jupiter has an absurdly strong magnetic field. The magnetopause is between 50 about 100 Jupiter radii from the planet, and the solar wind is deflected around it (Khurana et al., 2004). The jovian aurorae are powered by currents entirely within the magnetosphere (Jupiter's rotation and Io's plasma).

  12. Well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    At least if there are whales in Europa's ocean we'll be able to harpoon them.

  13. Re:In Before Niggers, There Was Feces by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    fuck you bro