Europe's Next Big Mission Depends on U.S. and Japan

摘要

European scientists on Feb. 3 auditioned three teams competing to carry out Europe's next billion-dollar mission but acknowledged that for all three the selection will depend on decisions to be made not in Europe, but in Washington and Tokyo. Representatives of NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) were present to lend moral support to the three projects, but said they were unable to commit to any of them yet. Whether they will be able to do so by June 21, the date Europe's science mission selection body is scheduled to meet, was unclear.