Florida: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Monday launched a mission to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa and study whether it is suitable for life. Europa Clipper spacecraft launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at 12:06 p.m. ET. The spacecraft lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Europa Clipper will take over five years to reach Jupiter. It will then enter into orbit around the giant gas planet and then slip close to Europa. NASA live-streamed the entire launching process. It is the largest planetary spacecraft to date.
In one of its X posts, the space agency said, " @EuropaClipper is now sailing through space on its own, bound for the Jupiter system. This "message in a bottle" carries the names and hopes of millions, as we voyage together to search for a habitable world beyond Earth."
NASA's Tweet:
Separation confirmed! @EuropaClipper is now sailing through space on its own, bound for the Jupiter system. This “message in a bottle” carries the names and hopes of millions, as we voyage together to search for a habitable world beyond Earth. pic.twitter.com/iL3e7O916g
— NASA (@NASA) October 14, 2024
Scientists believe that a deep, global ocean exists beneath Europa's icy crust. "Europa Clipper is the first mission designed to conduct a detailed study of Jupiter's moon Europa. There’s scientific evidence that the ingredients for life may exist on Europa right now. The spacecraft will travel 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion km) to reach Jupiter in April 2030. It will orbit Jupiter, and conduct 49 close flybys of Europa," NASA said on its official website.
Visuals Of The Launch:
Leaving our water world, to explore another 🚀@EuropaClipper launched from @NASAKennedy at 12:06pm ET (16:06 UTC) on a @SpaceX Falcon Heavy, beginning a 1.8-billion-mile journey to explore the mysteries of Europa, Jupiter’s ocean moon. pic.twitter.com/IQ7uRSviMb
— NASA (@NASA) October 14, 2024
The entire cost of the mission is USD 5.2 billion. The launch was initially scheduled for October 10. However, it was delayed due to Hurricane Milton.
Clipper will carry nine instruments and a gravity experiment to probe the existence of the ocean beneath Jupiter's moon. “The instruments work together hand in hand to answer our most pressing questions about Europa,” Robert Pappalardo, the mission’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, said in a statement as quoted by 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," he added.
Clipper also reportedly carries over 2.6 million names submitted by people from several countries and also a poem by US poet Ada Limón.