There’s still plenty of opportunity for astronomers to discover strange new objects. Researchers using the University of Hawaii’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) have found (via Gizmodo) a Trojan asteroid, 2019 LD2, that not only follows an odd orbit ahead of Jupiter but also sports an icy tail — it’s a unique “crossover” between asteroid and comet. It only appears to have been active for less than a year, too, which is unusual when Jupiter Trojans are often billions of years old and should have lost their ice a long time ago.

More data will be needed to determine just what led to this one-of-a-kind finding, but the university’s Institute for Astronomy suggested that Jupiter might have recently captured the asteroid from a distant (and thus colder) orbit, or that a collision with another space rock might have exposed ice that was previously ‘safe’ from the Sun’s heat. Either way, this revelation could offer more insights about the nature of the Solar System and its history.

The first of the potential missions is called Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging Plus or DAVINCI+. It would analyze the atmosphere of Venus and attempt to determine if the planet had an ocean in the past. It would also help scientists better understand how the planet’s atmosphere formed. Another Venus-focused mission called VERITAS or Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy would travel to the planet to create detailed, three-dimensional maps of its surface. It would also track infrared emissions so that NASA can get a better idea of Venus’ geology.

Next, there’s the Io Volcano Observer or IVO for short. It would travel to Io, one of Jupiter’s 79 known moons, to perform several close-in flybys and collect data on the satellite’s magma eruptions. NASA says the mission has the potential to revolutionize scientists’ understanding of how rocky, terrestrial bodies are formed. Lastly, there’s the TRIDENT project. It would go to Triton, one of Neptune’s moons, to perform a single flyby. In the process, it would map the moon and attempt to find out if Triton has a subsurface ocean.

NASA says it will provide each study with $3 million to polish its proposal. Sometime next year, the agency will pick up to two of the studies to further develop. One of the more recent missions to come out of the Discovery Program includes the InSight lander, which has been attempting to dig through the surface of Mars. Another Discovery Program alum is the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which late last year pinpointed the crash site of India’s Vikram lander.

Researchers first presented their proposal to NASA in 2017, revealing a boxy lander that would study both the surface and what’s below. The team didn’t need confirmation of the mission to get started — there have already been tests for its data antenna.

The moon is potentially the best candidate for life in the Solar System beyond Earth. Europa has a crust covered in water ice (there’s even evidence of sea salt). If there’s a corresponding water ocean underneath the surface, NASA might find evidence of life — even if it’s just the remnants of an earlier era. Clipper could also help determine the viability of human exploration of Europa, although any prospect of that is many years away.

The Clipper team is assessing its performance in the electromagnetic test facility’s controlled environment, much like how the Mars helicopter team used JPL’s Space Simulator to prove their unmanned flying vehicle works. In particular, they’re making sure it’s highly accurate when it comes to pointing to its targets, since that’s the key to sending back high-resolution images and huge volumes of scientific data.

“The measurements that will be performed in the ETR will demonstrate that the Europa Clipper mission can get a large volume of scientific data back to Earth and ultimately determine the habitability of Europa,” said Thomas Magner, Europa Clipper’s assistant project manager.

Scientists believe the moon’s thick, icy crust is hiding a global salty ocean. A NASA official once said that it’s one of the “most promising places that could potentially harbor life in the solar system” outside of our own planet and is definitely worth a visit.

While the Clipper team is almost done with its current round of tests, they’re planning to conduct more in the same facility before the spacecraft blasts off. The Europa Clipper is expected to launch sometime in 2020 and will take three to seven years to reach the gas giant, depending on its launch vehicle and other factors.