NASA's Europa Clipper Prepares for October Launch to Jupiter's Icy Moon
The mission aims to explore Europa's subsurface ocean and assess its potential habitability over a six-year journey.
- The Europa Clipper will launch on October 10, 2024, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center.
- The spacecraft will travel 1.8 billion miles over nearly six years to reach Jupiter's orbit in 2030.
- Europa Clipper will conduct 49 flybys of Europa, using nine scientific instruments to study the moon's icy shell, ocean, and potential water vapor plumes.
- Scientists aim to determine if Europa's subsurface ocean contains the necessary conditions to support life, such as water, organics, and chemical energy.
- The mission involves collaboration from over a thousand scientists and engineers from the U.S. and Europe, making it one of NASA's most ambitious planetary missions.
NASA 