Editing Europa (moon) (section)

=== Future missions ===

Conjectures regarding [[extraterrestrial life]] have ensured a high profile for Europa and have led to steady lobbying for future missions.<ref name="Europabudget">{{cite web |last=David |first=Leonard |url=http://www.space.com/news/060207_europa_budget.html |title=Europa Mission: Lost In NASA Budget |date=7 February 2006 |publisher=Space.com |access-date=25 February 2007 |archive-date=24 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224030016/http://www.space.com/news/060207_europa_budget.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="PlanetarySocEuropa">{{cite web|title=Projects: Europa Mission Campaign; Campaign Update: 2007 Budget Proposal |last=Friedman |first=Louis |date=14 December 2005 |url=http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/explore_europa/update_12142005.html |archive-date=11 August 2011 |url-status=dead |publisher=The Planetary Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811002508/http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/explore_europa/update_12142005.html }}</ref> The aims of these missions have ranged from examining Europa's chemical composition to searching for extraterrestrial life in its hypothesized subsurface oceans.<ref name="EuropaLife">{{cite web |title=Thin ice opens lead for life on Europa |first=David L. |last=Chandler |date=20 October 2002 |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2929 |work=New Scientist |access-date=27 August 2017 |archive-date=14 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514182430/http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2929 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Muir2002">Muir, Hazel (22 May 2002) [https://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2313 ''Europa has raw materials for life''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080416015647/http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2313 |date=16 April 2008 }}, ''New Scientist''.</ref> Robotic missions to Europa need to endure the high-radiation environment around Jupiter.<ref name="PlanetarySocEuropa" /> Because it is deeply embedded within [[Jupiter's magnetosphere]], Europa receives about 5.40&nbsp;[[Sievert|Sv]] of radiation per day.<ref name="Ringwald2000">Ringwald, Frederick A. (29 February 2000) [http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~fringwal/w08a.jup.txt ''SPS 1020 (Introduction to Space Sciences) Course Notes''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725050708/http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~fringwal/w08a.jup.txt |date=25 July 2008 }}, California State University, csufresno.edu.</ref>

* [[Europa Lander (NASA)|Europa Lander]] is a recent NASA concept mission under study. 2018 research suggests Europa may be covered in tall, jagged ice spikes, presenting a problem for any potential landing on its surface.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/8/17948510/jupiter-moon-europa-nasa-clipper-lander-penitentes|title=Future spacecraft landing on Jupiter's moon Europa may have to navigate jagged blades of ice|last=Grush|first=Loren|date=8 October 2018|website=The Verge|access-date=16 April 2019|archive-date=28 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328070428/https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/8/17948510/jupiter-moon-europa-nasa-clipper-lander-penitentes|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2018/10/08/jagged-ice-spikes-cover-jupiters-moon-europa-study-suggests/|title=Jagged ice spikes cover Jupiter's moon Europa, study suggests|last=Guarino|first=Ben|date=8 October 2018|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=15 April 2019|archive-date=16 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416012612/https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2018/10/08/jagged-ice-spikes-cover-jupiters-moon-europa-study-suggests/|url-status=live}}</ref>