Illustration of NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft
NASA/JPL-California Institute of Technology
The largest spacecraft ever developed by NASA for an interplanetary mission will launch today to determine whether Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, is capable of supporting life.
The Europa Clipper mission, delayed several days as a precaution due to Hurricane Milton, is scheduled to lift off on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:06 p.m. local time. is.
Europa is the smallest of Jupiter’s four large moons, the so-called Galilean moons. It is slightly smaller than our moon and is of particular interest to scientists. Previous observations have shown that Europa has a vast underground ocean, and this mission aims to explore the possibility that life exists within it.
Equipped with a solar array, the Europa Clipper will have an overall length of more than 30 meters and weigh 3,241 kilograms without propellant, an additional 2,750 kilograms.
The spacecraft will use Mars’ gravity and then Earth’s gravity to gain speed, and will take about six years to travel 2.9 billion kilometers (2.9 billion kilometers) until its rendezvous with Jupiter in April 2030.
Once it reaches Jupiter, it will enter an elliptical orbit and fly close to Europa 49 times in a row. Directly orbiting the Moon would place the spacecraft in the dangerously high radiation field emanating from Jupiter, so this flight path reduces exposure per flight to about a day, increasing the potential for damage. is minimized.
NASA also equipped the spacecraft with a 150-kilogram shield made of titanium and aluminum to shield the electronics from radiation.
Each flyby will take the European Clipper approximately 25 kilometers below the surface, surveying a different section each time. The spacecraft carries nine scientific instruments that will take high-resolution images of the Earth’s surface, measure Europa’s magnetic field, collect data in the infrared and ultraviolet spectra, and build a radar map.
Scientists working on the project said: new scientist The purpose of Europa Clipper is not to search for life itself, but to investigate whether there is an environment on the moon that can support life. But still, if there is life on Europa, it would be detected by the spacecraft’s surface dust analyzer, which is designed to detect organic material thrown into space by small meteorites impacting the moon’s surface. There is a slight possibility.
Observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope recently showed the presence of carbon dioxide on Europa’s surface, which could indicate habitable conditions beneath its icy shell. there is. The Europa Clipper mission will help scientists better understand the nature of the shell and the ocean it covers.
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