NASA’s exciting Europa Clipper mission is ready for launch.
The spacecraft’s main goal? To determine if Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, has habitable conditions beneath its frigid surface.
The journey will cover a staggering 1.8 billion miles and is scheduled to reach Europa by April 2030.
To kick things off, it’ll be launched on a modified Falcon Heavy rocket, specially stripped down for maximum power. After that, it will perform gravity-assist flybys around Mars and Earth to help propel it towards Jupiter.
Once in orbit, Europa Clipper will conduct 49 flybys of the moon, collecting data using nine science instruments. It will focus on exploring the icy crust and the ocean beneath it, checking for pockets of liquid water and evaluating the moon’s potential for life.
