NASA launches space mission to Jupiter moon in search for life

The Europa Clipper spacecraft is embarking on a nearly six-year, 3 billion kilometer (1.8 billion miles) mission to investigate whether the conditions on Jupiter’s moon could support life in what experts believe could be a deep ocean beneath its icy surface.

From a NASA facility on the east coast of Florida on Monday, the spacecraft launched on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket.

The launch was delayed by Hurricane Milton’s impact on its Florida launch site, which delayed it by several days.

The launch took place the same day SpaceX made its fifth space shuttle test flight from Texas, which for the first time brought the booster’s booster back to Earth.

Europa’s hidden ocean

Europa is one of Jupiter’s 95 known moons, and scientists believe it could have an ocean that is up to 120 kilometres (80 miles) deep, hidden beneath a thick ice sheet covering its surface.

The largest of Jupiter’s 95 known moons, Europa, was discovered by the Italian astronomer Galileo in the early 17th century, in 2013. In 2013, the Hubble Space Telescope discovered what appeared to be geysers erupting from the surface of the planet.

Scientists are now interested in examining what might be thermal vents beneath the ocean floor. These vents might have the potential to support life and provide a potent source of energy.

Program scientist Curt Niebur told The Associated Press that “it’s a chance for us to explore a world that might have been habitable billions of years ago, but one that might be habitable right now.”

The Europa Clipper, NASA’s largest craft ever to investigate another planet, is equipped with enormous solar panels. It has a budget of $5. 2 billion and is roughly the size of a basketball court.

Closer look

Although it claims this is NASA’s first mission to Jupiter, it is not its first effort to study Europa in detail. The spacecraft will fly closer than previous missions, within about 25 kilometres (nearly 16 miles).

After orbiting Jupiter, it will make 49 close flybys of Europa before ending the mission in 2034 with a planned crash into Ganymede, another of Jupiter’s moons.

The first detailed images of Europa from a distance were captured by the Pioneer spacecraft and two Voyager missions in the 1970s.

NASA’s Galileo and Juno spacecraft have since captured images of the moon in a significant way.

Nine scientific devices are housed within the spacecraft, including cameras that can map the entire moon and radar to see beneath the ice.

The Clipper’s passage through Jupiter’s radiation bands, which require special protection for its instrument controls, which are housed inside thick aluminum and zinc walls, is one of the challenges facing the Clipper’s ability to reach Europe.