Recent Hubble Space Telescope (HST) detection of anomalous concentrations of hydrogen and oxygen at Europa could potentially be due to plumes, analogous to the well-characterized plume at Enceladus as observed by the Cassini mission. Plumes on Europa would be extremely interesting science and mission targets, particularly due to the unique opportunity to obtain direct information on the subsurface composition, thereby addressing Europa’s potential habitability. In this context, a better understanding of the density and compositional structure of potential Europa plumes would help in planning of science observations for the Europa Clipper mission concept. Moreover, understanding the density structure of plumes is important to understanding potential engineering concerns due to dust as well as the potential effects of drag on the spacecraft. JPL seeks proposals that would model Europa plumes, including their possible physical properties and three-dimensional dynamics. We anticipate up to $450 K total funding will be available for 5 – 8 successful proposals. This is anticipated as a 9 to 12 month task, beginning around July 2014.
Deadline: Thursday, May 27, 2014, 3:00 p.m. (PST).