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<\/a><\/figure>NASA\u2019s Europa Clipper has embarked on its long voyage to Jupiter, where it will investigate Europa, a moon with an enormous subsurface ocean that may have conditions to support life. The spacecraft launched at 12:06 p.m. EDT Monday aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Pad 39A at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n
The largest spacecraft NASA ever built for a mission headed to another planet, Europa Clipper<\/a> also is the first NASA mission dedicated to studying an ocean world beyond Earth. The spacecraft will travel 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) on a trajectory that will leverage the power of gravity assists, first to Mars in four months and then back to Earth for another gravity assist flyby in 2026. After it begins orbiting Jupiter in April 2030, the spacecraft will fly past Europa 49 times.<\/p>\n \u201cCongratulations to our Europa Clipper team for beginning the first journey to an ocean world beyond Earth,\u201d said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. \u201cNASA leads the world in exploration and discovery, and the Europa Clipper mission is no different. By exploring the unknown, Europa Clipper will help us better understand whether there is the potential for life not just within our solar system, but among the billions of moons and planets beyond our Sun.\u201d<\/p>\n Approximately five minutes after liftoff, the rocket\u2019s second stage fired up and the payload fairing, or the rocket\u2019s nose cone, opened to reveal Europa Clipper. About an hour after launch, the spacecraft separated from the rocket. Ground controllers received a signal soon after, and two-way communication was established at 1:13 p.m. with NASA\u2019s Deep Space Network<\/a> facility in Canberra, Australia. Mission teams celebrated as initial telemetry reports showed Europa Clipper is in good health and operating as expected.<\/p>\n \u201cWe could not be more excited for the incredible and unprecedented science NASA\u2019s Europa Clipper mission will deliver in the generations to come,\u201d said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. \u201cEverything in NASA science is interconnected, and Europa Clipper\u2019s scientific discoveries will build upon the legacy that our other missions exploring Jupiter \u2014 including Juno, Galileo, and Voyager \u2014 created in our search for habitable worlds beyond our home planet.\u201d<\/p>\n The main goal of the mission is to determine whether Europa has conditions that could support life. Europa is about the size of our own Moon, but its interior is different. Information from NASA\u2019s Galileo mission in the 1990s showed strong evidence that under Europa\u2019s ice lies an enormous, salty ocean with more water than all of Earth\u2019s oceans combined. Scientists also have found evidence that Europa may host organic compounds and energy sources under its surface.<\/p>\n If the mission determines Europa is habitable, it may mean there are more habitable worlds in our solar system and beyond than imagined.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re ecstatic to send Europa Clipper on its way to explore a potentially habitable ocean world, thanks to our colleagues and partners who\u2019ve worked so hard to get us to this day,\u201d said Laurie Leshin, director, NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. \u201cEuropa Clipper will undoubtedly deliver mind-blowing science. While always bittersweet to send something we\u2019ve labored over for years off on its long journey, we know this remarkable team and spacecraft will expand our knowledge of our solar system and inspire future exploration.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2031, the spacecraft will begin conducting its science-dedicated flybys of Europa. Coming as close as 16 miles (25 kilometers) to the surface, Europa Clipper is equipped<\/a> with nine science instruments and a gravity experiment, including an ice-penetrating radar, cameras, and a thermal instrument to look for areas of warmer ice and any recent eruptions of water. As the most sophisticated suite of science instruments NASA has ever sent to Jupiter, they will work in concert to learn more about the moon\u2019s icy shell, thin atmosphere, and deep interior.<\/p>\n To power those instruments in the faint sunlight that reaches Jupiter, Europa Clipper also carries the largest solar arrays NASA has ever used for an interplanetary mission. With arrays extended, the spacecraft spans 100 feet (30.5 meters) from end to end. With propellant loaded, it weighs about 13,000 pounds (5,900 kilograms).<\/p>\n In all, more than 4,000 people have contributed to Europa Clipper mission since it was formally approved in 2015.<\/p>\n \u201cAs Europa Clipper embarks on its journey, I\u2019ll be thinking about the countless hours of dedication, innovation, and teamwork that made this moment possible,\u201d said Jordan Evans, project manager, NASA JPL. \u201cThis launch isn\u2019t just the next chapter in our exploration of the solar system; it\u2019s a leap toward uncovering the mysteries of another ocean world, driven by our shared curiosity and continued search to answer the question, \u2018are we alone?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n More About Europa Clipper<\/strong><\/p>\n Europa Clipper\u2019s three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon\u2019s icy shell and its interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission\u2019s detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.<\/p>\n Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, NASA JPL leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, for NASA\u2019s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The main spacecraft body was designed by APL in collaboration with NASA JPL and NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and NASA\u2019s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The Planetary Missions Program Office at Marshall executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission.<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s Launch Services Program, based at NASA Kennedy, managed the launch service for the Europa Clipper spacecraft.<\/p>\n Find more information about NASA\u2019s Europa Clipper mission here:<\/p>\n https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/europa-clipper<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n -end-<\/p>\n Meira Bernstein \/ Karen Fox Gretchen McCartney
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
meira.b.bernstein@nasa.gov<\/a> \/ karen.c.fox@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-287-4115
gretchen.p.mccartney@jpl.nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\nShare<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n