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The Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) is a proposed joint ESA/NASA
NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the Federal government of the United States, responsible for the nation's public list of space agencies....
 unmanned space mission for the in-depth exploration of Jupiter
Jupiter

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the Solar system by size planet within the Solar System. It is two and a half times as massive as all of the other planets in our Solar System combined....
's moons with a focus on Europa
Europa (moon)

'Europa' is the Moons_of_Jupiter#Table Natural satellite of the planet Jupiter. Europa was discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei , and named after a mythical Phoenician noblewoman, Europa , who was courted by Zeus and became the queen of Crete....
, Ganymede
Ganymede (moon)

'Ganymede' is a Moons of Jupiter and the List of natural satellites by diameter in the Solar System. Completing an orbit in a little more than seven days, it is the seventh satellite and third Galilean satellite from Jupiter....
 and Jupiter's magnetosphere
Magnetosphere

A magnetosphere is a highly magnetized region around and possessed by an astronomical object. Earth is surrounded by a magnetosphere, as are the magnetized planets Mercury , Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune....
; its working name at ESA is Laplace. In February 2009 it was announced that ESA/NASA had given this mission priority ahead of the Titan Saturn System Mission
Titan Saturn System Mission

Titan Saturn System Mission is a joint NASA/ESA proposal for an exploration of Saturn and its moons Titan and Enceladus where many complex phenomena have been revealed by the recent Cassini?Huygens mission....
. The ESA contribution still faces funding competition from other missions such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) and the International X-ray Observatory (IXO).






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The Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) is a proposed joint ESA/NASA
NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the Federal government of the United States, responsible for the nation's public list of space agencies....
 unmanned space mission for the in-depth exploration of Jupiter
Jupiter

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the Solar system by size planet within the Solar System. It is two and a half times as massive as all of the other planets in our Solar System combined....
's moons with a focus on Europa
Europa (moon)

'Europa' is the Moons_of_Jupiter#Table Natural satellite of the planet Jupiter. Europa was discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei , and named after a mythical Phoenician noblewoman, Europa , who was courted by Zeus and became the queen of Crete....
, Ganymede
Ganymede (moon)

'Ganymede' is a Moons of Jupiter and the List of natural satellites by diameter in the Solar System. Completing an orbit in a little more than seven days, it is the seventh satellite and third Galilean satellite from Jupiter....
 and Jupiter's magnetosphere
Magnetosphere

A magnetosphere is a highly magnetized region around and possessed by an astronomical object. Earth is surrounded by a magnetosphere, as are the magnetized planets Mercury , Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune....
; its working name at ESA is Laplace. In February 2009 it was announced that ESA/NASA had given this mission priority ahead of the Titan Saturn System Mission
Titan Saturn System Mission

Titan Saturn System Mission is a joint NASA/ESA proposal for an exploration of Saturn and its moons Titan and Enceladus where many complex phenomena have been revealed by the recent Cassini?Huygens mission....
. The ESA contribution still faces funding competition from other missions such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) and the International X-ray Observatory (IXO). The proposed launch date is around 2020..

The Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) has expressed an interest in contributing, although no deal has been finalized. Like the TSSM, the EJSM (without a participation by JAXA) is estimated to cost $4.45 billion, of which NASA contributes $3.8 billion and ESA $650 million.

Mission architecture

The most distinctive feature of the EJSM/Laplace-study, are its proposed two, or possibly three, separate orbiters:
  • The Jupiter Europa Orbiter
    Jupiter Europa Orbiter

    As a part of the Europa Jupiter System Mission , the Jupiter Europa Orbiter is a proposed orbiter space probe slated for lift-off in 2020 and planned for detailed studies of Jupiter's moons Europa and Io as well as the Jovian magnetosphere....
     (JEO), developed, launched and controlled by NASA
    NASA

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the Federal government of the United States, responsible for the nation's public list of space agencies....
     and planned to study Europa
    Europa (moon)

    'Europa' is the Moons_of_Jupiter#Table Natural satellite of the planet Jupiter. Europa was discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei , and named after a mythical Phoenician noblewoman, Europa , who was courted by Zeus and became the queen of Crete....
     and Io
    Io (moon)

    'Io' is the innermost of the four Galilean moons natural satellite of Jupiter and, with a diameter of 3,642 Kilometre, the List of moons by diameter in the Solar System....
    ,
  • the Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter
    Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter

    As a part of the Europa Jupiter System Mission , the Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter is a proposed orbiter space probe slated for lift-off in 2020 and planned for detailed studies of Jupiter's moons Ganymede and Callisto as well as the Jovian magnetosphere....
     (JGO), developed, launched and controlled by ESA and planned to study Ganymede
    Ganymede (moon)

    'Ganymede' is a Moons of Jupiter and the List of natural satellites by diameter in the Solar System. Completing an orbit in a little more than seven days, it is the seventh satellite and third Galilean satellite from Jupiter....
     and Callisto
    Callisto (moon)

    'Callisto' is a natural satellite of the planet Jupiter , discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei. It is the List of natural satellites by diameter in the Solar System and the second largest in the Jovian system, after Ganymede ....
    , and
  • the Jupiter Magnetospheric Orbiter
    Jupiter Magnetospheric Orbiter

    As a part of the Europa Jupiter System Mission , the Jupiter Magnetospheric Orbiter is an orbiter space probe proposed by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency ....
     (JMO), developed, launched and controlled by JAXA and planned to study Jupiter
    Jupiter

    Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the Solar system by size planet within the Solar System. It is two and a half times as massive as all of the other planets in our Solar System combined....
    's magnetosphere
    Magnetosphere

    A magnetosphere is a highly magnetized region around and possessed by an astronomical object. Earth is surrounded by a magnetosphere, as are the magnetized planets Mercury , Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune....
    .


The baseline EJSM architecture consists of JEO and JGO, which will execute an intricately choreographed exploration of the Jupiter System before settling into orbit around Europa and Ganymede, respectively. Both are to monitor dynamic phenomena such as Io’s volcano
Volcano

A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or Crust , which allows hot, molten rock, ash, and gases to escape from below the surface....
es and Jupiter’s atmosphere
Atmosphere

An atmosphere is a layer of gases that may surround a material body of sufficient mass, by the gravity of the body, and are retained for a longer duration if gravity is high and the atmosphere's temperature is low....
, map the Jovian magnetosphere and its interactions with the Galilean satellites, and characterize water
Water

Water is a common chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or States of matter, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam....
 ocean
Ocean

An ocean is a major body of Seawater, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a World Ocean that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas....
s beneath the ice
Ice

Ice is a solid phases of matter, usually crystalline solid, of a non-metallic substance that is liquid or gas at room temperature, such as ammonia ice or methane ice....
 shells of Europa and Ganymede. Should JAXA join the project, JMO will explore the Jovian magnetosphere in situ as a template for an astrophysical magnetised disk and affording the opportunity for “3-point” investigations of the Jupiter system via synergistic observations with JGO and JEO.

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