Space agencies mull over mutual mission to Europa

摘要

A future probe to Jupiter's moon Europa and a space-based X-ray "observatory should be built as joint ventures between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) over the next decade, researchers and agency officials say. But both agencies will find it a challenge to amass cash for the projects, which will each cost between US$1 billion and $2 billion. The joint missions were discussed earlier this month at a workshop near Washington that brought together representatives of the world's main space agencies to find where their research agendas overlapped.