NASA launched a probe today towards Jupiter’s moon Europa. Scientists suspect there is a huge ocean and traces of life there.
How thick is the ice layer on Jupiter’s moon Europa? Is there an ocean of liquid water underneath that supports life? Scientists at NASA want to answer these questions with the help of the “Europa Clipper” probe, which launched today aboard a Falcon Heavy from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
According to NASA, “Europa Clipper” is the largest spacecraft ever built for a planetary mission. With its huge extended solar cells, the probe could cover a basketball court, the space agency writes on its website. The probe is 30.5 meters long from one end to the other.
As soon as the rocket and its cargo are in space, the probe should separate from its upper stage. According to NASA, this should be the case around 50 minutes after the launch of the Falcon Heavy. The US space agency expects stable communication with the spacecraft another 19 minutes later.
About three hours after take-off, “Europa Clipper” should unfold its two huge solar systems and align them with the sun. Over the next three months, NASA scientists want to test the functionality of all instruments on board the probe.
“Europa Clipper” will take about six years to fly to Jupiter. However, the probe will not fly there directly. On the way it will circle the Earth and Mars to gain momentum for its 2.9 billion kilometer journey.
The probe is scheduled to begin orbiting Jupiter in April 2030. A year later, the 49 scientific flybys of Europe begin. During these missions, “Europa Clipper” is expected to reach a height of 25 kilometers from the surface of Jupiter’s moon.
Scientists believe there is a vast ocean beneath the icy surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa. This could contain more water than all of Earth’s oceans combined.
The ice layer above could be several kilometers thick. Cracks and geysers on Europa’s surface suggest that liquid water and organic compounds and energy sources may exist beneath the ice layer. For astronomers, Europa is therefore a prime candidate for the search for extraterrestrial life in the solar system.