Mars and Jupiter Next -- if NASA Can Afford to Go

By Charles Q. Choi

Published March 08, 2011

| Space.com

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NASA/ESA

This artists concept shows NASA's Jupiter Europa Orbiter, which will carry a complement of 11 instruments to explore Europa and the Jupiter system. The spacecraft is part of the joint NASA-ESA Europa Jupiter System Mission.

An expedition to see if some form of life ever existed on Mars and a journey to Jupiter's icy moon Europa to study its underground ocean should be NASA’s highest-priority missions in the next decade, a new report from the National Research Council suggests.

The report, entitled "Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022," was released Monday after an in-depth review to outline the greatest needs for planetary exploration in the next decade.

But NASA's current budget woes might delay some or all of these missions, the report warns. NASA, like all federal agencies, is currently operating without an official 2011 budget -- the government is working under a temporary spending measure called a continuing resolution.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/03/08/mars-jupiter-nasa-report-says-afford/#ixzz1G2QzbcyE