Enceladus Life Signatures and Habitability

Artist's impression of possiblehydrothermal activityon Enceladus

Enceladus Life Signatures and Habitability(ELSAH) is anastrobiologyconcept mission proposed in 2017 to NASA'sNew Frontiers programto send a spacecraft toEnceladusto search forbiosignaturesand assess itshabitability.^[1]^[2]The Principal Investigator isChristopher P. McKay,an astrobiologist at NASAAmes Research Center,^[3]and the managing NASA center isGoddard Space Flight Center.No details of the mission have been made public, but observers speculate that it would be a plume-sampling orbiter mission.^[4]

The two finalists, announced on 20 December 2017, areDragonflyto Titan, andCAESAR(Comet Astrobiology Exploration Sample Return) which is a sample-return mission from comet67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.^[5]

Although ELSAH was not selected for launch in this instance, it received technology development funds to prepare it for future mission competitions.^[6]The funds are meant to develop techniques that limit spacecraft contamination and thereby enable life detection measurements on cost-capped missions.^[6]

References[edit]

^"Proposed New Frontiers Missions".Future Planetary Exploration.4 August 2017. Archived fromthe originalon 20 September 2017.Retrieved2017-09-20.
^McIntyre, Ocean (17 September 2017)."Cassini: The legend and legacy of one of NASA's most prolific missions".Spaceflight Insider.Archived fromthe originalon 20 September 2017.Retrieved2017-09-20.
^Chang, Kenneth (15 September 2017)."Back to Saturn? Five Missions Proposed to Follow Cassini".The New York Times.Retrieved2017-11-03.
^Back to Saturn? NASA Eyes Possible Return Mission as Cassini Ends.Mike Wall.Space.17 September 2017.
^NASA's New Frontier Mission Will Search For Alien Life Or Reveal The Solar System's History.Elana Glowatz,IB Times.20 December 2017.
^^a ^bNASA Invests in Concept Development for Missions to Comet, Saturn Moon Titan.NASA News.20 December 2017.

[2017_Proposals-1] "Proposed New Frontiers Missions".Future Planetary Exploration.4 August 2017. Archived fromthe originalon 20 September 2017.Retrieved2017-09-20.

[2] McIntyre, Ocean (17 September 2017)."Cassini: The legend and legacy of one of NASA's most prolific missions".Spaceflight Insider.Archived fromthe originalon 20 September 2017.Retrieved2017-09-20.

[3] Chang, Kenneth (15 September 2017)."Back to Saturn? Five Missions Proposed to Follow Cassini".The New York Times.Retrieved2017-11-03.

[4] Back to Saturn? NASA Eyes Possible Return Mission as Cassini Ends.Mike Wall.Space.17 September 2017.

[ibtimes-5] NASA's New Frontier Mission Will Search For Alien Life Or Reveal The Solar System's History.Elana Glowatz,IB Times.20 December 2017.

[tech_funding-6] NASA Invests in Concept Development for Missions to Comet, Saturn Moon Titan.NASA News.20 December 2017.

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