NASA has embarked on a mission to Jupiter, where it will investigate Europa, a moon with a large subsurface ocean that may have conditions to support life. The spacecraft launched on Monday aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The largest spacecraft NASA ever built for a mission to another planet, Europa Clipper, is also the first NASA mission that aims to study an ocean world beyond Earth.
Spacecraft to orbit Jupiter in April 2030
The spacecraft will travel 2.9 billion kilometers first to Mars in four months and then back to Earth for another gravity-assist flyby in 2026. After it begins orbiting Jupiter in April 2030, NASA’s spacecraft will fly past Europa 49 times.
“NASA leads the world in exploration and discovery, and the Europa Clipper mission is no different. By exploring the unknown, Europa Clipper will help us better understand whether there is the potential for life not just within our solar system, but among the billions of moons and planets beyond our Sun,” stated NASA administrator Bill Nelson.
Mission’s target
The main goal of NASA’s mission is to determine whether Jupiter’s Europa has conditions that could support life. Europa is about the size of the Moon, but its interior is different. Information from NASA’s Galileo mission in the 1990s revealed strong evidence that under Europa’s ice lies an enormous, salty ocean with more water than all of Earth’s oceans combined.
Scientists also have found evidence that Europa may host organic compounds and energy sources under its surface. NASA said that if the mission determines Europa is habitable, it may mean there are more habitable worlds in the solar system.
“This launch isn’t just the next chapter in our exploration of the solar system; it’s a leap toward uncovering the mysteries of another ocean world, driven by our shared curiosity and continued search to answer the question, ‘are we alone?’,” stated Jordan Evans, project manager, NASA JPL.
Read: Elon Musk reveals plans for five uncrewed Mars missions
Europa Clipper’s key features
In 2031, the spacecraft will begin conducting its flybys of Europa. Coming as close as 25 kilometers to the surface, Europa Clipper is equipped with nine science instruments and a gravity experiment. In addition, it includes an ice-penetrating radar, cameras, and a thermal instrument to look for areas of warmer ice and any recent eruptions of water.
As the most sophisticated suite of science instruments NASA has ever sent to Jupiter, they aim to learn more about the moon’s icy shell, thin atmosphere, and deep interior.
To power those instruments in the faint sunlight that reaches Jupiter, Europa Clipper also carries the largest solar arrays NASA has ever used for an interplanetary mission. With arrays extended, the spacecraft spans 30.5 meters from end to end. With propellant loaded, it weighs about 5,900 kilograms.
In all, more than 4,000 people have contributed to the Europa Clipper mission since it was formally approved in 2015.
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