The challenge of landing on Europa

Europa is one of the most scientifically interesting objects in the solar system because of the strong possibility that a liquid water ocean exists beneath its ice-covered surface. The primary scientific goals of the mission are to confirm the existence of a liquid ocean, characterize surface material from recent upwelling and look for evidence of pre-biotic chemistry. The mission concept involves landing a single spacecraft on the surface of Europa with the ability to collect samples from 10 centimeters below the surface, perform analysis of the samples, and transmit the results back to Earth. Because of the large ΔV required (4.3 km/sec), the propellant mass comprises 70% of the spacecraft wet mass. This large ΔV requirement is further exasperated by the radiation shielding mass needed to protect the avionics and instruments from Jupiter´s severe radiation environment (7.5 Mrad behind 40 mils Al). The spacecraft will require radiation-tolerant components; new devices for acquiring, distributing, and processing samples; an advanced RTG power source, and a capability to perform autonomous precision navigation leading to a safe landing on Europa´s uncharacterized surface