Cassini Enceladus

NASA to support initial studies of privately funded Enceladus mission

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NASA signed an agreement in September with a foundation to support initial studies of a privately funded mission to a potentially habitable moon of Saturn.

Missions Breakthrough PrizeEnceladusNASA
Jupiter’s icy moon Europa (above left in a reprocessed color view made by images taken by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990) is thought to have a warm ocean shrouded beneath a layer of ice. Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus (shown in cross section above right) is also believed to have a liquid ocean between its rocky core and icy crust. Credit: NASA

Europa or Enceladus? If NASA switches from SLS to Falcon Heavy, it won’t have to choose

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Switching from SLS to the Falcon Heavy may cause some trade-offs in designing both the Europa Clipper and the Europa Lander to fit the smaller rocket. However, the cost savings could be plowed into an Enceladus orbiter.

Missions EnceladusEuropaFalcon HeavyNASASLS