Illustration of NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft
NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s largest spacecraft ever created for an interplanetary mission will launch today to determine whether Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, has an environment that could support life.
The Europa Clipper mission is scheduled to launch at 12:06 p.m. local time aboard a EspaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, having been delayed several days as a precaution due to Hurricane Milton.
Europa is the smallest of the so-called Galilean moons, which are the four largest moons of Jupiter. It is slightly smaller than our own moon and is of particular interest to scientists. Previous observations indicated that Europa has a vast underground oceanand this mission is designed to explore the possibility that life could reside there.
With its solar panels deployed, Europa Clipper spans more than 30 meters and weighs 3,241 kilograms without propellant, which will add another 2,750 kilograms.
The spacecraft will take about six years to travel 2.9 billion kilometers to its rendezvous with Jupiter in April 2030, using the gravity of Mars and then Earth to increase its speed.
When it reaches Jupiter, it will enter an elliptical orbit and perform a series of 49 close flybys of Europa. A direct orbit around the Moon would place the spacecraft in the dangerously high radiation fields that emanate from Jupiter, so this flight path reduces exposure to about a day for each flyby, minimizing the risk of damage.
NASA also included a 150-kilogram shield made of titanium and aluminum to protect electronic components from radiation.
Each flyby will bring Europa Clipper approximately 25 kilometers above the surface, inspecting a different section each time. The spacecraft carries nine scientific instruments, which will take high-resolution images of the surface, measure Europa’s magnetic fields, gather data in the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum and build a radar map.
Scientists working on the project have said New scientist that Europa Clipper is intended to determine whether the moon has an environment where life could exist, rather than searching for life itself. But there is nevertheless a small chance that if life exists on Europa, it could be detected by the spacecraft’s surface dust analyzer, designed to capture organic matter thrown into space by tiny meteorite impacts on the surface of the Moon.
Observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope have recently shown that carbon dioxide is present on the surface of Europawhich could indicate habitable conditions beneath its icy shell. The Europa Clipper mission will help scientists better understand the nature of this shell and the ocean it covers.
