NASA is going to Europa to find life, and it is looking for others to help. NASA released and Announcement of Opportunity asking for people to submit proposal for equipment and instruments that can by used on the moon's ice surface and in the vast oceans in the pursuit of extraterrestrial life.
NASA will choose 20 proposals in April 2015. NASA will then use $25 million to fund the development of these instruments. Another review of the proposals and the equipment will result in eight such tools joining the mission to Europa. Those eight will have a budget of $1 billion.
"The possibility of life on Europa is a motivating force for scientists and engineers around the world," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "This solicitation will select instruments which may provide a big leap in our search to answer the question: are we alone in the universe?"
The instruments would be part of a craft that would either orbit Europa or just do a flyby of the moon. The instruments would be used in the pursuit of five goals: measure the size of Europa's ocean and its relation to the moon's core; examine the moon's inner core; determine the interaction between the ice on the surface and the ocean below it; detect the composition of the surface to and its suitability for life; examine the characteristics of the surface and why it is different from Earth's and, lastly, collect data about the moon's magnetosphere.
An important part of the surface readings will be to find suitable sites for future exploration by landers. NASA's current data can't identify potential landing sites nor provide information to create appropriate landing systems for a lander to safely reach the surface.
Beyond these goals, the instruments have to stand up to the radiation on the surface of Europa. The instruments must also be completely sterile and unable to transport microbial life to the surface land or the sub-surface water of Jupiter's moon.
An indie science fiction film from 2013 named "Europa Report" depicted through the fictional astronauts and scientists' cameras a manned mission to Europa with scientific goals, including the search for extraterrestrial life.
The deadline for the instrument proposals for the actual Europa mission is October 17, 2014. The launch date of this Europa mission has not been disclosed by NASA.
