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Jupiter is millions of miles away from Earth, and exploration of the gas giant seemed impossible for years — until NASA’s Galileo orbited the planet in 1995. Now, NASA’s Europa Clipper is on a mission to discover more about one of Jupiter’s moons. Following its Monday, October 14, launch, astronomers and space enthusiasts are curious how this mission could prove that a moon is an oceanic — and therefore, a potentially habitual — world.
What Is the Europa Clipper Mission?
The Clipper was originally scheduled to launch on October 10. However, Hurricane Milton pushed the launch back another four days. The mission is to explore the ice-covered moon of Europa and to determine whether it could be a habitable world. Moreover, the Clipper’s mission could help scientists learn more about how life developed on Earth.
NASA mission project scientist Robert Pappalardo detailed how the Clipper will delve deeper than we’ve ever been before into Europa’s history and current world.
“The instruments work together hand in hand to answer our most pressing questions about Europa,” Robert Pappalardo said in a statement, per CNN. “We will learn what makes Europa tick, from its core and rocky interior to its ocean and ice shell to its very thin atmosphere and the surrounding space environment.”
Liftoff of Europa Clipper!
The #EuropaClipper spacecraft lifted off at 12:06pm ET Oct. 14 from Launch Pad 39A aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
The mission will help scientists better understand how life developed on Earth and the potential for finding life beyond our… pic.twitter.com/rzqbmqvyBh
— NASA's Kennedy Space Center (@NASAKennedy) October 14, 2024
Robert elaborated that he hopes the Clipper can find “some sort of oasis” on Europa, “where there’s evidence of liquid water not far below the surface, and evidence of organics on the surface.”
“Maybe it would be warm, maybe it would be the source of a plume,” he said. “That could be somewhere that in the future maybe NASA could send a lander to scoop down below the surface and literally search for signs of life.”
The Clipper will travel more than one billion miles and is expected to reach Jupiter in 2030. However, the spacecraft will not land on Europa’s surface; it will only conduct flybys to study the moon.
A journey of 1.8 billion miles is about to begin.
All about NASA's #EuropaClipper mission to explore Jupiter's intriguing moon Europa: https://t.co/KX1yfEbiNu
Launch is slated for Monday, Oct. 14. Here's how to watch: https://t.co/x4XNEuvd7U pic.twitter.com/qkUkVq39pT
— NASA Europa Clipper (@EuropaClipper) October 13, 2024
What Is the SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket?
Falcon Heavy is a rocket that was built by SpaceX to bring humans into space. It was used to launch the Europa Clipper from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Is There Another Mission to Jupiter?
The European Space Agency launched the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (a.k.a JUICE) in 2023. It is scheduled to reach the gas planet in 2031.
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) is also planning a Jupiter mission. CNSA plans to launch the Interstellar Express sometime in 2024 to study the heliosphere (the outermost atmospheric layer of the Sun), and it will fly by Jupiter in its mission.
