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The launch of the NASA Jupiter Europa Clipper mission. – (Photo NASA)
NASA has launched a groundbreaking mission to study Jupiter and its moon Europa, one of the main sites for the search for life beyond Earth.
The spacecraft, called Europa Clipper, launched Monday, is designed to study the Moon’s icy surface and the subterranean ocean believed to exist beneath it.
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It was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, on a mission costing $5.2 billion.
Europa Clipper will not directly search for life, but will assess whether Europa’s environment could support it. The spacecraft will examine the Moon’s ice-covered ocean, located relatively close to the surface. Although it won’t hunt microorganisms, its findings could pave the way for future missions to detect life.
Curt Niebur, NASA program scientist, highlighted the importance of the mission, saying: “We are not just exploring a world that was habitable billions of years ago, but a world that could be today – right now. »
Why is Jupiter’s moon Europa a key target?
Europa, one of Jupiter’s 95 known moons, is slightly smaller than Earth’s moon and is covered by an ice sheet estimated to be 10 to 15 miles (15 to 24 km) thick. Beneath this frozen surface, scientists believe there is a vast ocean, up to 120 km deep. This ocean could be a rich environment for life due to the presence of water, organic compounds and energy sources such as thermal vents on the ocean floor.
Although Europa was discovered by Galileo in 1610, interest in its potential to support life has grown in recent decades, particularly with evidence from the Hubble Space Telescope suggesting geysers erupt from its surface.
Europa Clipper – the largest spacecraft of its type
The Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft built by NASA for planetary exploration, mainly due to its enormous solar panels. These panels are necessary to generate enough energy, given the long distance between Jupiter and the Sun. It will take five and a half years to reach its destination, and Clipper will approach Europa just 25 km from its surface – a much closer encounter than any previous mission.
The structure and capabilities of Europa Clipper
Europa Clipper is a massive spacecraft, with wings and solar antennas stretching over 30 meters in length. The main body of the spacecraft, similar in size to a camper van, houses nine scientific instruments. These include radar to penetrate Europa’s icy shell, cameras to map its surface and devices to analyze its atmosphere and composition.
Its design is inspired by the fast sailing ships of centuries past, a nod to the long journey ahead.
Timeline of NASA spacecraft’s journey to Jupiter
The spacecraft will travel a distance of 3 billion kilometers to reach Jupiter, making several flybys of Mars and Earth to reach the required speed. Europa Clipper is expected to reach Jupiter in 2030 and will begin science operations in 2031. During the mission, it will fly past Europa 49 times.
The mission is expected to end in 2034 with a planned crash on Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon.
The future of European exploration
The Europa Clipper mission is part of NASA’s ongoing efforts to explore Jupiter’s moons. Other active missions include NASA’s Juno, which has been orbiting Jupiter since 2016, and the European Space Agency’s JUpiter ICy Moons Explorer (JUICE), launched in April 2023. Europa Clipper is expected to reach Jupiter before JUICE due to trajectories of different flights, thus strengthening its role in the triad of missions aimed at understanding Jupiter and its moons.
This mission is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech in collaboration with the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) at Johns Hopkins.
First publication: October 15, 2024 | 5:05 p.m. EAST
Disclaimer: The content on this website is provided for educational and informational purposes only.