Europa Clipper, a huge NASA spacecraft that is sent to the icy moon of Jupiter in search of life.

Clipper, NASA’s largest planetary mission spacecraft, left Florida this Monday bound for Europe. ice-covered moon of Jupiter and it hides in its depths a huge ocean in which there may be life. Clipper was launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in central Florida at 12:06 pm EST (16:06 GMT).

Historical decryption mission if “we are alone” in the universe will make about 50 flybys of this mysterious 25-kilometer-high icy moon to determine whether Europa has favorable conditions for life. For about four years, the spacecraft will send scientists clues about the astrobiological potential of habitable worlds beyond Earth, but the mission could be extended, as Galileo did when he explored the icy surface of Europa more than 20 years ago.

The US space agency explained that the ship is five meters high and 30.5 meters wide will travel 2.9 billion kilometers to reach Jupiter in about six years, and then it will take another to adjust its orbit and begin exploration in 2030.

According to NASA, the Europa Clipper mission seeks to understand the nature of the ice sheet, internal ocean, and composition and geology of this moon. Europa, one of Jupiter’s most famous moons, is believed to have “liquid water, essential chemistry and a source of energy,” elements necessary for life to exist.

Europa Clipper, with its huge solar panels and radar antennas, is the largest spacecraft developed by NASA for a planetary mission. The design of the panels is critical to power supply as Europa Clipper operates in the system of Jupiter, which is more than five times farther from the Sun than Earth.

Protecting devices from Jupiter radiation

The ship is equipped with nine powerful scientific instruments. And as the Europa satellite bathes in radiation trapped by Jupiter’s magnetic field, the spacecraft’s instruments and other electronic components They will be locked in the vault thick-walled.

The idea is to protect yourself before traveling to Jupiter with a radiation shield dome, which was developed and first successfully used by NASA’s Juno spacecraft. Vault walls made of titanium and aluminum

act as a shield against most high-energy atomic particles, dramatically slowing the degradation of the ship’s electronic components.

The payload includes cameras and spectrometers to provide high-resolution images and compositional maps of Europa’s surface and thin atmosphere. Also includes ice penetrating radar for search for groundwater and a magnetometer and gravity measurements to unravel clues about its ocean and deep interior.

The ship will also have a thermal imaging device for identification various places with warmer ice and possibly recent water eruptions, as well as other studies to measure the composition of tiny particles in the Moon’s thin atmosphere and space environment.

The moon Europa, according to NASA, shows strong evidence that Beneath its icy crust is an ocean of liquid water.. Beyond Earth, Europa is considered one of the most promising places in the solar system where a habitable environment could currently exist.