Investigating Europa’s habitability with the Europa Clipper

Vance, S. D. et al. (2024) Investigating Europa’s habitability with the Europa Clipper. Space Science Reviews, 219(8), 81. (doi: 10.1007/s11214-023-01025-2)

Abstract

The habitability of Europa is a property within a system, which is driven by a multitude of physical and chemical processes and is defined by many interdependent parameters, so that its full characterization requires collaborative investigation. To explore Europa as an integrated system to yield a complete picture of its habitability, the Europa Clipper mission has three primary science objectives: (1) characterize the ice shell and ocean including their heterogeneity, properties, and the nature of surface–ice–ocean exchange; (2) characterize Europa’s composition including any non-ice materials on the surface and in the atmosphere, and any carbon-containing compounds; and (3) characterize Europa’s geology including surface features and localities of high science interest. The mission will also address several cross-cutting science topics including the search for any current or recent activity in the form of thermal anomalies and plumes, performing geodetic and radiation measurements, and assessing high-resolution, co-located observations at select sites to provide reconnaissance for a potential future landed mission. Synthesizing the mission’s science measurements, as well as incorporating remote observations by Earth-based observatories, the James Webb Space Telescope, and other space-based resources, to constrain Europa’s habitability, is a complex task and is guided by the mission’s Habitability Assessment Board (HAB).

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: FP acknowledges the support by a European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant 724908-Habitat OASIS. JL acknowledges the support of NASA Grant #80NSSC19K1544. JS’s research was supported by an appointment to the NASA Postdoctoral Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, administered by Oak Ridge Associated Universities under contract with NASA.MAS acknowledges support from The Science and Technology Facilities Council grant ST/S000615/1 and The Leverhulme Trust grant RPG-2018-012. This work was supported by NASA through the Europa Clipper Project.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Persaud, Dr Divya
• Authors: Vance, S. D., Craft, K. L., Shock, E., Schmidt, B. E., Lunine, J., Hand, K. P., McKinnon, W. B., Spiers, E. M., Chivers, C., Lawrence, J. D., Wolfenbarger, N., Leonard, E. J., Robinson, K. J., Styczinski, M. J., Persaud, D. M., Steinbrügge, G., Zolotov, M. Y., Quick, L. C., Scully, J. E. C., Becker, T. M., Howell, S. M., Clark, R. N., Dombard, A. J., Glein, C. R., Mousis, O., Sephton, M. A., Castillo-Rogez, J., Nimmo, F., McEwen, A. S., Gudipati, M. S., Jun, I., Jia, X., Postberg, F., Soderlund, K. M., and Elder, C. M.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Geographical and Earth Sciences > Earth Sciences
• Journal Name: Space Science Reviews
• Publisher: Springer
• ISSN: 0038-6308
• ISSN (Online): 1572-9672
• Published Online: 29 November 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © The Author(s) 2023
• First Published: First published in Space Science Reviews 219:81
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence