The hades mission concept – astrobiological survey of jupiter's icy moon europa
Böttcher, Thomas Huber, Liliane Le Corre, Lucille Leitner, Johannes McCarthy, David Nilsson, Ricky Teixeira, Carlos Vaquer Araujo, Sergi Wilson, Rebecca C. Adjali, Fatah
Böttcher, Thomas
Huber, Liliane
Le Corre, Lucille
Leitner, Johannes
McCarthy, David
Nilsson, Ricky
Teixeira, Carlos
Vaquer Araujo, Sergi
Wilson, Rebecca C.
Adjali, Fatah
Repository DOI
Publication Date
2009-08-26
Type
Article
Downloads
Citation
Böttcher, Thomas; Huber, Liliane; Le Corre, Lucille; Leitner, Johannes; McCarthy, David; Nilsson, Ricky; Teixeira, Carlos; Vaquer Araujo, Sergi; Wilson, Rebecca C. Adjali, Fatah; Altenburg, Martin; Briani, Giacomo; Buchas, Peter; Le Postollec, Aurélie; Meier, Teresa (2009). The hades mission concept – astrobiological survey of jupiter's icy moon europa. International Journal of Astrobiology 8 (4), 321-329
Abstract
The HADES Europa mission concept aims to provide a framework for an astrobiological in-depth investigation of the Jupiter moon Europa, relying on existing technologies and feasibility. This mission study proposes a system consisting of an orbiter, lander and cryobot as a platform for detailed exploration of Europa. While the orbiter will investigate the presence of a liquid ocean and characterize Europa's internal structure, the lander will survey local dynamics of the ice layer and the surface environment. The lander releases a cryobot, that melts into the ice, will sample the pristine subsurface and is expected to provide data on organic and gaseous content and putative bio-signatures. In summary, we present the scientific objectives for an astrobiological investigation of Europa, resulting in a mission concept with a detailed evaluation of scientific instrumentation, mission sequences, basic design of the spacecraft, technology needs and cost estimations.
Funder
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Publisher DOI
10.1017/s147355040999022x
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Ireland