2024-04-13 01:32:35
Is there life on Jupiter’s moon Europa? Are aliens lurking beneath its surface? NASA presented its interplanetary probe, the purpose of which will be to search for answers to these questions, reported AFP.
The $5 billion Clipper probe is expected to be launched in October on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket to Europa, one of dozens of moons of Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system.
The spacecraft will travel for more than five years and pass by Mars before entering orbit around Jupiter and Europa in 2031, if all goes according to plan.
“One of the main questions NASA wants to answer is, ‘Are we alone in space?'” Bob Pappalardo, a scientist on the mission, told AFP.
If evidence of life is found, it will be a huge step forward in understanding how widespread it is in the universe, he added.
The spacecraft is currently stored in a sterile chamber at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, accessible only to head-to-toe personnel.
NASA is taking every precaution to ensure that the probe does not carry microbes from Earth to Europa.
After the mission begins, Clipper will begin a detailed study of Jupiter’s moon-sized moon, which scientists believe is covered in frozen water.
“We have instruments like cameras, spectrometers, magnetometers and radar that can penetrate the ice to tell us how thick it is and where there is liquid water,” continues Pappalardo.
Mission leaders aren’t hoping to find little green men scuttling around. In fact, they are not necessarily looking for signs of life, only favorable conditions for it.
Scientists know that even in extreme climatic conditions on Earth, under the ice cap in a light-free environment, microscopic life forms can exist.
“If there can be life on moons around distant planets, then I think the number of possibilities for it in the solar system, in the universe, increases dramatically,” said Jordan Evans, project manager for the Europa Clipper mission.
Exploring Europa won’t be easy, however, as a powerful radiation field surrounds Jupiter’s natural moon and could damage the instruments of Clipper, which will receive the equivalent of 100,000 chest X-rays each time it orbits its target.
Due to the distance, the data from the probe will arrive at the control station in 45 minutes.
And despite its massive solar panels, which will deploy when the probe is in space, keeping Clipper operational will be difficult, notes Evans.
“Near the Earth, they could continuously power 20 houses, and near Jupiter – only a few light bulbs and small appliances, due to the planet’s distance from the Sun,” explains the scientist.
The mission, whose planning began in the late 1990s, should end around 2034, when Clipper will reach the end of its useful life.
The final stage of the probe’s mission will be to crash into a Jupiter moon, says Tim Larson, deputy project manager.
“When we’re done with the science mission, the way to terminate it is to crash the probe into one of the other Jupiter system bodies that are available. For now, NASA’s plan is to ‘boost’ the probe to Jupiter’s largest natural moon – Ganymede,” adds Larson, quoted by BTA.