The Mass Analyzer for Real-time Investigation of Neutrals at Europa (MARINE)

Presented herein is the progress on developing a new mass analyzer for analysis of the exospheres of planets, moons, and primitive bodies, such as found at Europa or Enceladus. Europa, one of Jupiter´s four Galilean moons, may have a subsurface ocean plausibly containing the key ingredients for life as well as sources of chemical energy. Clues to the composition and chemical state of Europa´s ocean can be found both on Europa´s icy surface and in its tenuous atmosphere. Given the high scientific priority of assessing the habitability of Europa´s ocean, the Europa Clipper notional payload includes a Neutral Mass Spectrometer whose purpose is to characterize the composition of ejected surface products during a series of flyby investigations. The Mass Analyzer for Real-time Investigation of Neutrals at Europa (MARINE) is capable of measuring the abundances of neutral particle species in Europa´s exosphere including H₂O, O₂, CO₂, and SO₂, and determining their number density profiles at per-second sampling rates as a function of altitude above Europa´s surface. MARINE will either detect tracers of potential subsurface biological activity in Europa´s exosphere, or place upper limits on their surface abundances. It exceeds all requirements for the proposed investigations with margins ranging from 100 to 1000%, while remaining fully compatible with spacecraft accommodation constraints for mass, power, data volume, and field-of-view.