Mission to Europa's sub-surface ocean and search for possible biological traces

Abstract

Recent close encounters to Europa, a giant Jovian satellite, by the Galileo spacecraft reenforced the hypothesis that there might exist a liquid ocean of H 2O in Europa. It can be assumed that Europa, like the Earth, has biological systems under its sub surface ocean, and that marine organisms consume chemical nutrients released by geological activities even though there is no sunlight. The purpose of this paper is to introduce conceptual and feasibility studies of a spacecraft mission to explore Europa's hypothetical sub-surface ocean. In this paper, we present possible searches for the possible biological evidence through the observation of traces. We analyze the scientific rationale, the methodology and the instrumentation of our investigation held in this mission. The designs of spacecraft and mission profile is also reviewed.