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Enceladus Life Finder

(ELF)
(mission to search for life on Saturn moon Enceladus)

Enceladus Life Finder (ELF) is a proposed space mission to Saturn's moon, Enceladus, to search for life in its internal ocean. It would orbit Saturn so as to pass close to Enceladus, gathering data with two mass spectrometers while passing through Enceladus geysers. It would be launched in the 2020s. In 2015, the plan was submitted to NASA as a candidate for the thirteenth mission of the Discovery Program, but it was not selected. In 2017, the plan was submitted to NASA as a candidate for its fourth New Frontiers mission, i.e., New Frontiers 4, or NF4, but was not selected as a finalist. It still could be selected in the future for such missions, as could some similar mission incorporating some of its concepts.


(Saturn,spacecraft,NASA,plan,astrobiology,life)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enceladus_Life_Finder
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Frontiers_program
https://www.planetary.org/space-images/enceladus-life-finder-slide-2
https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2015/pdf/1525.pdf
http://futureplanets.blogspot.com/2015/03/

Referenced by pages:
Enceladus
Saturn

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