Europa Clipper begins epic journey to find what's hiding on Jupiter's moon

After traveling nearly 2.9 billion kilometers, the spacecraft will begin a series of 49 close flybys of Europa in 2030.

In Short

• The spacecraft is equipped with nine cutting-edge instruments
• It will scan Europa’s frozen landscape, measure the thickness of the ice shell
• Europa is thought to have more water than all of Earth’s oceans

For decades, Europa has captivated not only scientists but also filmmakers, writers, and dreamers. This icy moon of Jupiter has played a starring role in science fiction, most famously in Arthur C. Clarke's 2010: Odyssey Two, where it is depicted as a world brimming with life.

Shrouded in ice, with a surface etched by cracks and mysterious ridges, this distant celestial body has long been a subject of fascination. What lies beneath its frozen exterior? Could its subsurface ocean, hidden several kilometres below, be the key to understanding life beyond Earth?

These questions are at the heart of Nasa's latest and most ambitious mission, the Europa Clipper, which launched on Monday, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The mission’s primary objective: to determine if Europa has the right conditions to support life.

WHAT IS EUROPA?

Europa, a moon around Jupiter, has intrigued the scientific community ever since the Galileo spacecraft first provided tantalising evidence of a global ocean beneath its icy shell in the 1990s.

The possibility of life existing in this remote, alien ocean has stirred imaginations ever since.

Unlike Earth, Europa’s ocean isn’t warmed by the sun, but by the tidal forces created by Jupiter’s immense gravitational pull. This process could generate the necessary heat to sustain microbial life in the dark depths of this hidden sea.

WHAT WILL EUROPA CLIPPER MISSION DO?

The Europa Clipper mission, with its $5 billion price tag and six-year journey, is NASA’s bold attempt to unravel these mysteries.

After travelling nearly 2.9 billion kilometres, the spacecraft will begin a series of 49 close flybys of Europa in 2030, conducting what may be the most detailed investigation ever undertaken of a celestial body beyond our planet.

Equipped with nine cutting-edge instruments, including ice-penetrating radar, cameras, and spectrometers, the spacecraft will delve deep into the moon’s icy crust and atmosphere, searching for signs that Europa’s ocean might harbour the essential building blocks of life.​

WHAT CAN BE EXPECTED?

The excitement around Europa Clipper stems from its potential to answer one of humanity’s oldest and most profound questions: Are we alone in the universe?

With each flyby, the spacecraft will scan Europa’s frozen landscape, measuring the thickness of the ice shell and looking for evidence of water plumes that might be venting from the ocean below.

These plumes, if confirmed, could provide a direct glimpse into the chemical makeup of Europa’s ocean, offering clues to its habitability.

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HIGH STAKES MISSION

NASA scientists are not just looking for evidence of life but are also gathering invaluable data about how life might exist in extreme environments.

Europa is thought to have more water than all of Earth’s oceans combined, locked away beneath its surface. If life can exist there, in complete darkness under miles of ice, it could fundamentally reshape our understanding of where life could thrive in the cosmos.​

In the years leading up to its arrival at Europa, the Europa Clipper’s journey will be watched closely by space enthusiasts around the globe. While it will take six years for the spacecraft to reach its destination, the mission promises to be a turning point in the quest to find life beyond Earth.

As the Europa Clipper hurtles through space toward its icy target, it carries with it the hopes and dreams of humanity, bound on a daring voyage to unlock the secrets of a distant moon that may hold answers to questions humans have pondered for centuries.