Let's send a private mission to Europa, expert says

Jupiter's icy moon Europa puzzles astrobiologists and sparks the imagination of extraterrestrial life seekers. It is believed that the moon has a subsurface ocean of liquid water, where life could possibly be similar to microbial life forms on Earth. The likely presence of liquid water has ignited persisting calls to send a probe there. Currently NASA and ESA plan their own missions to the potentially habitable moon. Europa Clipper mission has just got approved for $30 million in the 2016 NASA budget and ESA's Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE) is scheduled for launch in 2022. But an astrobiology expert, Christopher Impey of the University of Arizona, thinks that the private sector could also take part in the race to Europa. "I think the private sector could step in. If Google or Amazon wanted to fund a more ambition mission and 'brand' what would potentially be the first detection of life beyond Earth, it would be an enormous coup," Impey told astrowatch.net. He is the author of popular books about astrobiology: 'The Living Cosmos: Our Search for Life in the Universe', 'Talking About Life: Conversations on Astrobiology', and 'Frontiers of Astrobiology'.