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Next: 2. Executive Summary Up: Project Asterius Previous: List of Tables

1. Introduction

Recent data obtained from Galileo suggest that liquid water may exist on Jupiter's moon Europa. If this is the case, then Europa will be the first body beyond Earth to be discovered with liquid water. The possibility of finding liquid water gives us the desire to send a spacecraft to Europa to explore the water/ice interface beneath Europa's crust.

The primary goal for this mission is to send a spacecraft to Europa to obtain scientific measurements about the ice and water content, surface features, and physical properties. Secondary goals include assessing whether conditions favorable to the formation of life might exist elsewhere in the solar system, finding resources that may be useful in the future, and using data to further our understanding of the solar system and the universe.

We believe getting to the water/ice interface can bring us the most revealing data about Europa. Hence, the main focus of Project Asterius is on reaching the water/ice interface, and every major design decision is measured against the criteria of successfully reaching that interface.

In order to perform a soft landing on Europa, the orbiter will select a suitable site and the lander will use thrusters to brake for landing. The lander will carry scientific instruments capable of multispectral imaging, and geophysical and chemical testing of data from the planet. The WISP will carry a microscopic camera, a spectrometer, and lights. The lander is capable of surviving for at least a year and the WISP is capable of surviving for 6 hours in water with balloons. Data will be stored on the lander, and the DSN network will be used for communication with Earth. The latest date for science return is 2015.

Each subsystem includes design aspects for each part of the spacecraft: the OOM, SOM, and WISP. The trajectory for the mission is selected, and so is the launch vehicle. Furthermore, this report contains mass and power budgets, including a peak power budget.