This past Tuesday, the President signed a continuing resolution that was recently passed by the House and the Senate. The bill outlines how the government will spend its money for the remainder of the fiscal year. Included in the spending package is an increase in funding for NASA’s planetary science research program as well as $75 million for a Europa mission. Although it’s not yet clear how the money will be allocated – perhaps it will fund instrument development? – it is very exciting news for all of us at Destination: Europa.

It’s much easier to make noise when we are angry than when we are pleased, but we can’t forget to show our appreciation when people go out of their way to support our cause. So, first and foremost, we want to THANK YOU for your participation. Together with organizations like The Planetary Society and professional societies like AAS and AGU, you helped show Congress that the American people support outer solar system science!

And just as we acknowledge the vital role that you all played in getting the Europa mission into this bill, we are asking each of you to contact your Senators and Representatives to thank them for supporting the Europa mission.

A thank-you letter to the President, written by one of our founding members!

The members of the committees on science and space-related policy are listed at “Europa Goes To Congress”. If these are your elected officials, please give them a call or even mail them a thank-you card! You may also want to thank your Senators or Representatives who voted in favor of the bill (links go to voting records). If your elected officials voted no, it is especially important that you let them know that you support funding for Europa! Last, but not least, we need to thank the President for signing this legislation into law.

Although he has been an ardent supporter of STEM careers and has often spoken of returning America to the cutting edge of technological innovation, President Obama’s initial budget request would have held NASA’s budget flat while saddling planetary science with a 20% reduction in funding. Meeting those budget constraints would have required massive cuts to R&A, a longer waiting period between smaller space missions, and no funding for any strategic missions, including the Europa mission. The passage of this bill shows that, when the public is vocal and passionate about a cause, Congress and the President listen.

We have made terrific progress towards restoring NASA funding to operational levels, but there is more work to be done. Fiscal planning for the coming year kicks off with the President’s budget request, which he is expected to release in the first week of April. That means NOW is the time to be vocal and passionate in your support of Europa Clipper. Please take the time to write or call the President and your Senators and Representatives, both to thank them and encourage their continued support for Europa science and the Clipper mission in the 2014 budget.

The tide is turning, but we need you to hoist the sails! #goEuropa!

At some point in our lives, most of us have gazed up at the multitude of stars in the night sky and felt captivated by the possibility of exploring distant worlds. But have you ever thought about where you would explore if you had the chance? NASA recently gave planetary scientists the opportunity to ponder this question as they developed guidelines for the next ten years of robotic space exploration. Called the Decadal Survey for Planetary Science, the resulting “Visions and Voyages” document represents the consensus view of the hundreds of planetary scientists who participated. NASA attempts to follow these science-driven guidelines in assembling a portfolio of future missions to explore and study the solar system.

The top priority target for NASA’s next big mission? Two candidates surged to the top, earning equal scientific clout: A sample-collecting Mars rover and a flagship-class mission to Jupiter’s ocean-moon, Europa. At Mars, after securing precious samples of the Martian crust, the rover would await two subsequent missions to collect and return them to Earth for study in today and tomorrow’s most advanced laboratories. The goal: to determine whether life ever arose on the Red Planet. The Europa flagship mission would be the first to orbit an extraterrestrial moon and would use instruments such as ice-penetrating radar and an infrared mapping spectrometer to investigate the habitability of the icy shell and subsurface ocean. Judging by the spectacular results of the flagship Cassini mission to Saturn, we could expect nothing less than awe inspiring new vistas and scientific surprises galore. Furthermore, a dedicated Europa mission would pave the way for more advanced forays, such as landers with seismometers for measuring Europa-quakes or even a submersible rover to explore the vast under-ice ocean. Two visionary space missions, engineers and scientists ready to start work, and strong public support – a slam-dunk for NASA, right?

Figure 1: Projected budget for NASA’s Planetary Science Division as a percentage of the overall NASA Science budget. Source: NASA

Things started to go wrong when the White House released its FY’13 budget early last year, in which NASA’s Planetary Science Division – the one responsible for those cool robotic missions – was handed a 21% funding cut. Many planetary scientists were taken aback by the severity and specificity of the cut in light of NASA’s relatively unchanged overall funding, and the string of recent high profile successes, such as the Mars Exploration Rovers, Cassini, and the Messenger mission to Mercury, to name but a few. With this new funding reality on the horizon, it became clear that NASA would not be able to follow the Decadal Survey recommendations and collect samples from Mars, and we certainly wouldn’t be exploring Europa any time soon. Delays and cuts of this kind propagate for years into the future, due to the long process of designing, building, and launching interplanetary spacecraft.

Just after the Curiosity rover made its harrowing descent into Gale crater  last August, Congress seemed to take notice and added about $100M back into the proposed budgets, with the funds earmarked for future robotic Mars exploration. Europa would continue to wait patiently. Meanwhile, scientists and engineers were not waiting: they were busy reworking the Europa flagship mission concept, making difficult choices and streamlining the design to bring the cost down while protecting the most compelling science. The Europa Clipper fly-by mission concept was born. Coming in at about $2B, the Clipper mission could accomplish nearly all of the scientific goals of the Europa Flagship, at roughly half the cost.

What would it take to get Europa Clipper off the ground? We have the technology. Engineers and scientists are ready to start work. All that is missing is the funding for a “new start”, which would amount to a small fraction of NASA’s overall budget. Convincing Congress and the White House may not be easy, but we have to start somewhere. This is where you come in: If you have ever stared up into the vastness of space and wondered where you might go, this mission is for you. We need your help!

Destination: Europa is an organization and website devoted to sharing Europa science and promoting a new mission to Europa. On our site, you can read up on Europa, learn about the Clipper mission, and find resources to help you show your support. Follow this blog to hear about new science results, get updates on mission funding, and receive action alerts. Thank you for visiting!