Enceladus Life Signatures and Habitability

Astrobiology concept mission

Enceladus's south pole - Geysers spray water from many locations along the 'tiger stripes' feature. Artist's impression of possible hydrothermal activity on Enceladus.

Enceladus Life Signatures and Habitability (ELSAH) is an astrobiology concept mission proposed in 2017 to NASA's New Frontiers program to send a spacecraft to Enceladus to search for biosignatures and assess its habitability.[1][2] The Principal Investigator is Christopher P. McKay, an astrobiologist at NASA Ames Research Center,[3] and the managing NASA center is Goddard Space Flight Center. No details of the mission have been made public, but observers speculate that it would be a plume-sampling orbiter mission.[4]

The two finalists, announced on 20 December 2017, are Dragonfly to Titan, and CAESAR (Comet Astrobiology Exploration Sample Return) which is a sample-return mission from comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.[5]

Although ELSAH was not selected for launch in this instance, it received technology development funds to prepare it for future mission competitions.[6] The funds are meant to develop techniques that limit spacecraft contamination and thereby enable life detection measurements on cost-capped missions.[6]

## See also[edit]

* Astronomy portal
* Biology portal

* Enceladus Explorer (En-Ex)
* Enceladus Life Finder (ELF)
* Explorer of Enceladus and Titan (E2T)
* Journey to Enceladus and Titan (JET)
* Life Investigation For Enceladus (LIFE)
* THEO

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Proposed New Frontiers Missions". Future Planetary Exploration. 4 August 2017. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
2. ^ McIntyre, Ocean (17 September 2017). "Cassini: The legend and legacy of one of NASA's most prolific missions". Spaceflight Insider. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 2017-09-20.
3. ^ Chang, Kenneth (15 September 2017). "Back to Saturn? Five Missions Proposed to Follow Cassini". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-11-03.
4. ^ Back to Saturn? NASA Eyes Possible Return Mission as Cassini Ends. Mike Wall. Space. 17 September 2017.
5. ^ NASA's New Frontier Mission Will Search For Alien Life Or Reveal The Solar System's History. Elana Glowatz, IB Times. 20 December 2017.
6. ^ a b NASA Invests in Concept Development for Missions to Comet, Saturn Moon Titan. NASA News. 20 December 2017.

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Astrobiology

Disciplines|

* Astrochemistry
* Astrophysics
* Atmospheric sciences
* Biochemistry
* Evolutionary biology
* Exoplanetology
* Geomicrobiology
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Main topics|

* Abiogenesis
* Allan Hills 84001
* Biomolecule
* Biosignature
* Drake equation
* Earliest known life forms
* Earth analog
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* Extraterrestrial sample curation
* Extremophiles
* Hypothetical types of biochemistry
* List of microorganisms tested in outer space
* Ocean planet
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* Planetary protection
* Search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI)
* Yamato meteorite

Planetary
habitability|

* Circumstellar habitable zone
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* Galactic habitable zone
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* Habitability of K-type main-sequence star systems
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* List of potentially habitable exoplanets
* Tholin
* Superhabitable planet

Space
missions|

| Earth orbit|

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Mars|

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Comets and
asteroids|

* Hayabusa2
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* Rosetta

Heliocentric|

* BioSentinel

Planned|

* Dragonfly
* Europa Clipper
* ExoMars
* Rosalind Franklin rover

Proposed|

* Breakthrough Enceladus
* BRUIE
* CAESAR
* Enceladus Explorer
* Enceladus Life Finder‎
* Enceladus Life Signatures and Habitability
* Enceladus Orbilander
* Europa Lander
* ExoLance
* Explorer of Enceladus and Titan
* Icebreaker Life
* Journey to Enceladus and Titan
* Laplace-P
* Life Investigation For Enceladus
* Mars sample return mission
* Oceanus
* THEO
* Trident

Cancelled and
undeveloped|

* Astrobiology Field Laboratory
* Beagle 3
* Biological Oxidant and Life Detection
* Kazachok
* Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment
* Mars Astrobiology Explorer-Cacher
* MELOS
* Northern Light
* Red Dragon
* Terrestrial Planet Finder

Institutions
and programs|

* Astrobiology Society of Britain
* Astrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring Planets
* Breakthrough Initiatives
* Breakthrough Listen
* Breakthrough Message
* Breakthrough Starshot
* Carl Sagan Institute
* Center for Life Detection Science
* European Astrobiology Network Association
* MERMOZ
* NASA Astrobiology Institute
* Nexus for Exoplanet System Science
* Ocean Worlds Exploration Program
* Spanish Astrobiology Center‎

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Extraterrestrial life

Events and objects|

* Shergotty meteorite (1865)
* Nakhla meteorite (1911)
* Murchison meteorite (1969)
* Viking lander biological experiments (1976)
* Allan Hills 77005 (1977)
* Allan Hills 84001 (1984)
* Yamato 000593 (2000)
* CI1 fossils (2011)

Signals of interest|

| Misidentified|

* CP 1919 (misidentified pulsar)
* CTA-102 (misidentified quasar)

|

Stars|

* KIC 8462852 (unusual light fluctuations)
* EPIC 204278916 (unusual light fluctuations)
* VVV-WIT-07 (unusual light fluctuations)
* HD 164595 signal (unknown origin)

Other|

* SHGb02+14a (radio source)
* Wow! signal (inconclusive)
* Fast radio burst (unknown origin)
* BLC1 (radio signal)

Life in the Universe|

* Earliest known life forms
* Planetary habitability in the Solar System
* Life on Venus
* Life on Mars
* Life on Titan

Planetary
habitability|

* Catalog of Nearby Habitable Systems
* Circumstellar habitable zone
* Earth analog
* Extraterrestrial liquid water
* Galactic habitable zone
* Habitability of binary star systems
* Habitability of natural satellites
* Habitability of neutron star systems
* Habitability of red dwarf systems
* Habitability of K-type main-sequence star systems
* Habitability of yellow dwarf systems
* Habitability of F-type main-sequence star systems
* List of potentially habitable exoplanets
* Planetary habitability
* Superhabitable planet
* Tholin

Space missions|

* Beagle 2
* Biological Oxidant and Life Detection
* BioSentinel
* Curiosity rover
* Darwin
* Dragonfly
* Enceladus Explorer
* Enceladus Life Finder
* Europa Clipper
* ExoMars
* Rosalind Franklin rover
* ExoLance
* EXPOSE
* Foton-M3
* Icebreaker Life
* Journey to Enceladus and Titan
* Laplace-P
* Life Investigation For Enceladus
* Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment
* Mars Geyser Hopper
* Mars sample-return mission
* Mars 2020
* Northern Light
* Opportunity rover
* Perseverance rover
* SpaceX Red Dragon
* Spirit rover
* Tanpopo
* Titan Mare Explorer
* Venus In Situ Explorer
* Viking 1
* Viking 2

Interstellar
communication|

* Active SETI
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Types of alleged
extraterrestrial beings|

* Energy beings
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* Insectoids
* Little green men
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Hypotheses|

* Cosmic pluralism
* Directed panspermia
* Drake equation
* Extraterrestrial hypothesis
* Fermi paradox
* Hypothetical types of biochemistry
* Interplanetary contamination
* Kardashev scale
* Mediocrity principle
* Panspermia

Fermi paradox solutions|

* Aestivation hypothesis
* Berserker hypothesis
* Dark forest hypothesis
* Firstborn hypothesis
* Great Filter
* Hart–Tipler conjecture
* Neocatastrophism
* Planetarium hypothesis
* Rare Earth hypothesis
* Zoo hypothesis

Related topics|

* Ancient astronauts
* Astrobiology
* Astroecology
* Biosignature
* Brookings Report
* Exotheology
* Extraterrestrials in fiction
* Extremophile
* Hemolithin
* MERMOZ
* Nexus for Exoplanet System Science
* Noogenesis
* Planetary protection
* Potential cultural impact of extraterrestrial contact
* Post-detection policy
* San Marino Scale
* Technosignature
* UFO religion
* Xenoarchaeology

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NASA Planetary Missions Program Office

Discovery program

| Missions|

| Main|

* NEAR Shoemaker
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* MESSENGER
* Deep Impact
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* GRAIL
* InSight
* Lucy
* Psyche
* VERITAS
* DAVINCI

|

Opportunity|

* ASPERA-3
* EPOXI
* NExT
* Moon Mineralogy Mapper
* Strofio
* MEGANE

Proposals|

| Finalists|

* Mission 12
* Comet Hopper
* Titan Mare Explorer
* Mission 13 and 14
* DAVINCI
* NEOCam
* VERITAS
* Mission 15 and 16
* Io Volcano Observer
* Trident

|

Candidates|

* Enceladus Life Finder
* Icebreaker Life
* ISOCHRON
* JET
* LIFE
* MANTIS
* Mars Geyser Hopper
* Moon Diver
* PADME
* Phobos Surveyor
* Whipple

New Frontiers program

| Missions|

* New Horizons
* Juno
* OSIRIS-REx
* Dragonfly

|

Proposals|

| Finalists|

* Mission 2
* MoonRise
* Mission 3
* MoonRise
* SAGE
* Mission 4
* CAESAR

|

Candidates|

* CONDOR
* CORSAIR
* ELF
* ELSAH
* Oceanus
* SPRITE
* VICI
* VISAGE
* VOX

Solar System Exploration program

| Missions|

* DART
* JUICE instruments
* Europa Clipper

|

* Underline indicates active current missions
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* Symbol † indicates failure en route or before intended mission data returned

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Spacecraft missions to Saturn

Past|

| Flybys|

* Pioneer 11
* Voyager 1
* Voyager 2

|

Orbiters|

* Cassini–Huygens
* timeline
* retirement

Landers|

* Huygens (on Titan)

Planned|

* Dragonfly (to Titan, 2028)

Proposed|

| to Saturn and rings|

* Kronos
* Saturn Atmospheric Entry Probe
* SPRITE
* Titan Saturn System Mission

|

to Enceladus|

* Enceladus Orbilander
* Breakthrough Enceladus mission
* Enceladus Life Finder
* Enceladus Life Signatures and Habitability
* Enceladus Explorer
* Life Investigation For Enceladus

to Titan|

* AVIATR
* Oceanus
* TALISE
* Titan Mare Explorer

to several moons|

* Explorer of Enceladus and Titan
* Journey to Enceladus and Titan

* There are no ongoing missions to Saturn

Portals:

* Astronomy
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