NASA Considers Ambitious Mission to Jupiter's Icy Moon Europa by 2025

Under a thick crust of ice, Europa might have an ocean warmed by tidal interactions with Jupiter. 

This tidal flexing could also produce a geologically active core that might in turn create hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor.

Credit: NASA/JPL/Ted Stryk

NASA hopes to launch a mission to the Jupiter moon Europa, perhaps the solar system's best bet to host alien life, a decade or so from now, officials announced Tuesday (March 4).

The White House's 2015 federal budget request, which was released Tuesday, allocates $15 million to help develop a mission to Europa, which harbors a potentially life-supporting ocean of liquid water beneath its icy shell.

"Europa is a very challenging mission operating in a really high radiation environment, and there's lots to do to prepare for it," NASA chief financial officer Beth Robinson told reporters Tuesday. "We're looking for a launch some time in the mid-2020s."



The $15 million — which represents a tiny fraction of the $17.5 billion allocated to the space agency in the 2015 request — would fund very early "pre-formulation" work for a potential Europa mission, Robinson added.

"I know people have asked about the total size [of the possible mission], and we're frankly just not sure at this point," she said, adding that agency officials will reach out to the scientific community to help map out the mission.