NASA is putting together a robotic mission for Europa, Jupiter's watery moon, which astronomers theorize could host a form of life.
Europa was first discovered by Galileo Galilei four-hundred years ago, and has what appears to be a subsurface ocean, according to the Washington Post.
Elizabeth Robinson, chief financial officer for NASA, said Tuesday that the mission will be launched in the mid-2020s. NASA will use $15 million in its 2015 budget proposal for the mission, Fox News reported.
Robinson added that the mission could be difficult due to the high radiation environment around Jupiter and its distance from Earth. The space agency sent Galileo to Jupiter in 1989, and it took six years for the probe to get around the planet.
Astronomers have lobbied for a mission to the moon in the past, but the proposals were denied due to the billions of dollars it would cost. While probes have flown by Europa in the past, none have been sent directly to the moon, which is only one of dozens orbiting Jupiter, Fox News reported.
While the Europa mission is receiving a great deal of support, planning the mission may be difficult due to NASA's other plans, the Washington Post reported. The agency is currently working on a new rocket, the Space Launch System, and a new crew capsule called Orion, which costs around $3 billion a year.
Scientists found liquid fumes of water shooting up through Europa's ice last year. NASA Europa scientist Robert Pappalardo said the trip could be cheaper if they flew through the water instead of circling it or landing on ice, according to Fox News.
Robinson said NASA does not know at this time how much the mission will cost, and that the agency will look at different ideas for the mission. She added that the main goal is to find life in the moon's liquid water under the surface, Fox News reported.
Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb shared her excitement about the Europa mission, saying it will be more exciting than exploring Mars.
"There might be fish under the ice," Loeb said.
