Will a lander mission be sent to Europa, and what instruments will it carry?
If a Europa Orbiter mission finds strong evidence for a subsurface ocean on Europa, then there will be strong scientific justification to send a follow-on lander mission to Europa. A seismometer could detect for certain whether there is liquid water at depth and how deep that water is (assuming the satellite is seismically active). An electromagnetic technique called “magnetotellurics” could measure the current generated in subsurface water in response to the ambient magnetic field. Certainly it would be important to sample the chemistry of the reddish non-ice material on Europa’s surface to test for its compatibility with life and for the presence of any organic materials. The idea of actually melting all the way through Europa’s ice shell to an ocean (if technologically possible) is probably a long time off.
