Breakthrough Enceladus mission
Corey S. Powell, editor-in-chief of Discover magazine, reporting for NBC News stated that the mission was particularly notable as it would "rewrite the rules of space exploration," being potentially the first to find proof of complex life in the solar system, as it is "riskier than anything NASA would attempt on its own."[1] Christopher McKay, a planetary scientist, at NASA Ames Research Center has compared Breakthrough Enceladus to Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe, and Richard Byrd’s pole expeditions, that "would create a new paradigm for exploration.”[1] The privately funded probe is estimated to take a decade to build and cost $60 million, while a NASA government funded approach could take over two decades and cost 15 times as much.[1] On 13 September 2018, Thomas Zurbuchen of NASA signed a Pre-Phase A partnership agreement, with Breakthrough Prize Foundation's chairman Pete Worden to jointly create the mission concept and plan.[7] The flyby mission proposes to search for microbes in the plumes of water that are being ejected from Enceladus's warm ocean, veiled under a layer of ice crust on its south pole.[8] According to a study published in Geophysical Research Letters, Enceladus's ice crust is believed to be two to five kilometers thick,[9] (thinner than Europa's ice layer, estimated to be 19 to 25 kilometers thick), and could permit a probe to use ice-penetrating radar, to investigate the contents of the Enceladian ocean.
astrobiologyBreakthrough InitiativesYuri MilnerSaturnEnceladusCorey S. PowellDiscoverNBC NewsChristopher McKayNASA Ames Research CenterMagellan’sRichard ByrdThomas ZurbuchenPete WordenNew FrontiersEuropa Clipperextra-terrestrial lifeGeophysical Research LettersEuropaice-penetrating radarBibcodeAstrochemistryAstrophysicsAtmospheric sciencesBiochemistryEvolutionary biologyExoplanetologyGeomicrobiologyMicrobiologyPaleontologyPlanetary oceanographyPlanetary scienceAbiogenesisAllan Hills 84001BiomoleculeBiosignatureDrake equationEarliest known life formsEarth analogExtraterrestrial lifeExtraterrestrial sample curationExtremophilesHypothetical types of biochemistryList of microorganisms tested in outer spaceOcean planetPanspermiaPlanetary protectionSearch for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI)Yamato meteoritePlanetaryhabitabilityCircumstellar habitable zoneExtraterrestrial liquid waterGalactic habitable zoneHabitability of binary star systemsHabitability of natural satellitesHabitability of neutron star systemsHabitability of red dwarf systemsHabitability of K-type main-sequence star systemsHabitability of yellow dwarf systemsHabitability of F-type main-sequence star systemsHabitable zone for complex lifeList of potentially habitable exoplanetsTholinSuperhabitable planetBiolabBIOPANBiosatellite programE-MISTEu:CROPISEXPOSEO/OREOSOREOcubeTanpopoVEGGIEBeagle 2Fobos-GruntMars Science LaboratoryCuriosity roverMars 2020Perseverance roverPhoenixTianwen-1Zhurong roverTrace Gas OrbiterVikingHayabusa2OSIRIS-RExRosettaBioSentinelDragonflyExoMarsRosalind Franklin roverCAESAREnceladus ExplorerEnceladus Life FinderEnceladus Life Signatures and HabitabilityEnceladus OrbilanderEuropa LanderExoLanceExplorer of Enceladus and TitanIcebreaker LifeJourney to Enceladus and TitanLaplace-PLife Investigation For EnceladusMars sample return missionOceanusTridentAstrobiology Field LaboratoryBeagle 3Biological Oxidant and Life DetectionKazachokLiving Interplanetary Flight ExperimentMars Astrobiology Explorer-CacherNorthern LightRed DragonTerrestrial Planet FinderAstrobiology Society of BritainAstrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring PlanetsBreakthrough ListenBreakthrough MessageBreakthrough StarshotCarl Sagan InstituteCenter for Life Detection ScienceEuropean Astrobiology Network AssociationMERMOZNASA Astrobiology Institute