Europa Exploration Philosophy

TL;DR

The paper advocates for a series of low-cost scout missions to explore Europa's surface and search for organics, as a precursor to a large lander, emphasizing risk reduction and cost efficiency.

Contribution

It proposes a new exploration strategy using multiple small, low-cost missions instead of a single high-cost Viking-class lander.

Findings

Low-cost scouts can effectively characterize Europa's surface.

Scout missions can identify organic molecules before a large lander arrives.

Precursor missions reduce overall exploration risk and cost.

Abstract

A Viking-class Europa Lander is a high-risk, high-cost venture. In its place, Europa should be explored by a series of low-cost scouts. These will be landers and small flyby craft. These missions will ascertain the nature of Europa's surface at a scale of meters to centimeters. Some will search for the presence of organic molecules. All of them will precede a large Europa Lander.