Europa Clipper Composition Studies and Prioritization of Measurements

The Europa Clipper mission will investigate the composition of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, which is essential for assessing Europa’s habitability. Through remote sensing and in situ investigations, the Europa Clipper mission will explore the composition of Europa’s surface, subsurface, tenuous atmosphere, and local space environment. Data obtained will constrain the moon’s interior composition through characterization of exposed subsurface materials, radar studies of the ice shell, and observation of potential plumes produced via recent geologic activity. Compositional information will constrain models of Europa’s ongoing external and internal processes, aiding our understanding of how Europa formed/evolved and how material may change or be exchanged with a subsurface ocean. The Europa Clipper Science Team has discussed types of measurements that will be acquired by the different investigations and, after coupling science needs with tour design, has developed a plan for prioritizing measurements collected during specific flybys of Europa and via more distant observations. This presentation will summarize (1) the observations to be made by the Europa Clipper mission that will feed into composition goals, (2) how some observations could be integrated for increased science value, and (3) the prioritization of these measurements, to be used for mission planning.