NASA heads to Europa to seek life... in 7 years

Let's get real about the NASA Jupiter moon Europa mission just given the thumbs-up by the White House yearly budget this week. While the news is booming, there's something important to remember – we're not nearly prepared yet to get there. NASA still needs to begin orbiting Jupiter with a craft like the Europe Clipper to get a better look at Europa. After that, a landing could possibly be attempted – and at that time we're looking at a touch-down "as early as" the year 2022.

Space missions don't come cheap. They also don't come on quick. They require massive amounts of scientific research, years of preparation – and even then, lots can go wrong. Take Rosetta and its currently-lost Philae lander for example.

After years of preparation and a seemingly great launch and approach, the Philae lander lost power – it's currently out of commission and its location is unknown. There's a chance they'll find it when the sun rises on the craft in May, but it could be that this multi-million-dollar craft may be chalked up to a loss.

The year 2022 projection for the mission is rough, and comes from David Senske of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. He's also the Europa Clipper pre-project deputy project scientist.

"We have a preconceived notion of what a lander looks like," said Senske this past December with Space.com, "What we find may not support our preconceived notion."

Above is an artist's rendition of a "simulated view from Europa's surface." This image comes from NASA/JPL-Caltech: "This work was conducted with Europa study funds from NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena." Below you're seeing a high-quality photo of the surface of Europa provided by NASA.

The next step is NASA selecting the science instruments that'll be utilized in this mission. With $30 million allocated to NASA for their Europa mission in just this newest federal budget from the White House, they should be able to move forward comfortably.

Below you'll see a presentation by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory called "Europa: Ocean World."

The timeline below contains a number of articles covering NASA's involvement with Europa and moving forward to explore Jupiter's icy moon. Have a peek and cross your fingers for deep sea adventures!