NASA, ESA Talk Joint Exploration

As NASA extends the Cassini mission to Saturn and its environs into 2010, the U. S. space agency and the European Space Agency are discussing the next flagship mission to the realm of the gas giants to launch no later than 2017.

Two missions are under consideration. One would be a Jupiter-Europa flight-- perhaps including a Russian Europa lander; the other would be a Saturn-Titan flight, maybe with a balloon to fly in Titan's atmosphere. Both are clearly consistent with NASA's search for life beyond Earth.

NASA feels confident it has budget authority from Congress to spend $2.1 billion on such a mission. Presumably, ESA would pick up anything beyond that. Both sides hope to have a decision on which mission to fly by November.