NASA’s Europa Clipper mission launches to Jupiter moon with potential for life
- by New York Daily News
- Oct 14, 2024
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A massive NASA mission to explore if one of Jupiter’s moons could support life launched Monday morning from Florida.
The Europa Clipper spacecraft lifted off aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket bound for the moon Europa, one of 95 known moons of Jupiter.
Europa is considered one of the best candidates in the solar system to support life as we know it. It’s about the same size as Earth’s moon and encased in a 10-mile thick sheet of ice. Scientists believe the ice hides a massive ocean that could support life.
The Europa Clipper mission will not search for life but instead map the moon and determine if life could possibly exist under the surface.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the Europa Clipper spacecraft aboard launches from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on Monday. (CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
“It’s a chance for us to explore not a world that might have been habitable billions of years ago, but a world that might be habitable today — right now,” program scientist Curt Niebur told The Associated Press.
Europa Clipper won’t arrive at its destination for five and a half years, making the 1.8 billion-mile journey in a roundabout trip. The spacecraft is about the size of a basketball court, spanning 100 feet and weighing more than 7,000 pounds.
Once it arrives, Europa Clipper will orbit Jupiter and fly past Europa 49 times and get as close as 16 miles from the surface. It will snap photographs from various different angles to map the entire moon. Nine scientific instruments on board will help NASA learn if life could exist under the surface.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the Europa Clipper spacecraft aboard launches from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on Monday. (GREGG NEWTON/AFP via Getty Images)
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