<p>NASA is planning to send a daring robotic mission by 2025 to Jupiter's watery moon Europa - one of the best bets for alien life beyond Earth in our solar system.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The American space agency has set aside USD 15 million in its 2015 budget proposal to start planning a mission to Europa.<br /><br />NASA's chief financial officer, Elizabeth Robinson, was quoted by 'The Times' as saying that the Europa mission would be launched in the mid-2020s.<br /><br />Laurie Leshin, astronomer at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, said it would be "a daring mission to an extremely compelling object in our solar system."<br /><br />It is the first time the White House has mentioned a Europa mission in its budget, according to Wired.com.<br /><br />"Clearly this is a statement by NASA that they recognise the priority and excitement of Europa exploration," commented geologist Robert Pappalardo from NASA's Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).<br /><br />Europa is one of the solar system's most mysterious moons. There may be a vast ocean beneath Europa's icy crust, with more water in it than exists on all of Earth.<br /><br />A little bit of that water may be erupting from geysers near the Europa's south pole, sending plumes 200 kilometres into the air, a recent study has found.<br /><br />Scientists can send a spacecraft flying through these jets in order to sample their composition.<br /><br />"I would not be overly optimistic until I see the words, 'We want to go to Europa'" from the administration, said planetary scientist Alyssa Rhoden of NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center.<br /><br />Robinson said NASA will look at many competing ideas for a Europa mission, so the agency does not yet know how big or how much it will cost. </p>
<p>NASA is planning to send a daring robotic mission by 2025 to Jupiter's watery moon Europa - one of the best bets for alien life beyond Earth in our solar system.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The American space agency has set aside USD 15 million in its 2015 budget proposal to start planning a mission to Europa.<br /><br />NASA's chief financial officer, Elizabeth Robinson, was quoted by 'The Times' as saying that the Europa mission would be launched in the mid-2020s.<br /><br />Laurie Leshin, astronomer at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, said it would be "a daring mission to an extremely compelling object in our solar system."<br /><br />It is the first time the White House has mentioned a Europa mission in its budget, according to Wired.com.<br /><br />"Clearly this is a statement by NASA that they recognise the priority and excitement of Europa exploration," commented geologist Robert Pappalardo from NASA's Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).<br /><br />Europa is one of the solar system's most mysterious moons. There may be a vast ocean beneath Europa's icy crust, with more water in it than exists on all of Earth.<br /><br />A little bit of that water may be erupting from geysers near the Europa's south pole, sending plumes 200 kilometres into the air, a recent study has found.<br /><br />Scientists can send a spacecraft flying through these jets in order to sample their composition.<br /><br />"I would not be overly optimistic until I see the words, 'We want to go to Europa'" from the administration, said planetary scientist Alyssa Rhoden of NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center.<br /><br />Robinson said NASA will look at many competing ideas for a Europa mission, so the agency does not yet know how big or how much it will cost. </p>