If you would like to join the discussions on the hydrobot or any other aspect of the Europan mission, you may do so here . This, of course is an important consideration for the design of the whole mission including the hydrobot. Given nearly limitless funds, we could come up with all sorts of ways to explore the Europan oceans. However, the reality is that funding is likely to be scarce. With that in mind, the total cost of a mission to Europa will probably have to be within a few hundred million dollars.
Time There are two time frames to consider for the mission.
There is the time to prepare the mission and the time to accomplish the mission. NASA is planning to send an orbiter mission to Europa in the next few years. The data from this mission will be invaluable to the design of a lander and hydrobot. Given that the orbiter mission could last for about five years, then the time to plan the lander mission could be as much as ten years. The time to accomplish the mission will include the time to fly to Jupiter and the time it takes to get through the ice and collect data.