The Europa Clipper mission aims to determine if the vast ocean beneath the icy surface of Jupiter’s moon could support life, exploring its potential habitability.
Nasa’s Europa Clipper has embarked on a long voyage to Jupiter, where it will investigate Europa, a moon with an enormous subsurface ocean that may have conditions to support life.
The spacecraft will travel 2.9 billion kilometres on a trajectory that will leverage the power of gravity assist, first to Mars in four months and then back to Earth for another gravity assist flyby in 2026. Ground controllers received a signal soon after, and two-way communication was established with Nasa’s Deep Space Network facility in Canberra, Australia.
Europa is about the size of our own moon, but its interior is different. Information from Nasa’s Galileo mission in the 1990s showed strong evidence that under Europa’s ice lies an enormous, salty ocean with more water than all of Earth’s oceans combined. Scientists also have found evidence that Europa may host organic compounds and energy sources under its surface.
“Europa Clipper will undoubtedly deliver mind-blowing science. While always bittersweet to send something we’ve laboured over for years off on its long journey, we know this remarkable team and spacecraft will expand our knowledge of our solar system and inspire future exploration.”In 2031, the spacecraft will begin conducting its science-dedicated flybys of Europa.
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