Europa Clipper heads to Jupiter to search for alien life

NASA's Europa spacecraft launched today on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. It will slingshot around Mars, then Earth, and reach Jupiter in April 2030. Once in orbit around Jupiter, the Clipper will perform about 50 flybys of the moon Europa, studying its icy surface and subsurface ocean, which may be capable of supporting life.

Europa is constantly bombarded by intense radiation, making life on the surface impossible. However, information gained by Galileo, which orbited Jupiter from 1995 to 2003, strongly suggests that a massive ocean resides under the icy crust. Clipper will determine if there is a subsurface ocean and look for the other ingredients necessary for life.

The spacecraft is massive, spanning over 100 feet with its solar array deployed and weighing 13,000, including fuel, at launch. It contains nine scientific instruments to gather the most detailed data ever recorded in the outer Solar System. The three boosters will be expended and not recovered after launch.

Previously: Water geysers on Europa may make it easier to search for life there