1. outerplanet missions require an expensive energy source
2. radiation hardened components
3. loads of fuel required for orbit insertion around europa.
I suspect the science instruments are peanuts compared to #3... since every 1kg of payload, you need more fuel for orbit insertion, which in turn increases the launch cost from earth... so it may cost nearly twice as much to add mass to the probe as for a probe like Galileo.
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Could someone explain to me why a simple Europa explorer has to cost $1.2
Billion? I am not trying to put someone or some people down, I am just
curious.Ton Muller
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