NASA’s Europa Clipper begins its journey to Jupiter to find out if its oceanic moon can support life

This article was originally published in English

The NASA spacecraft took off on Monday to explore Europemoon Jupiter, and find out if the vast hidden ocean can contain it keys to life. Europa Clipper will take five and a half years to reach Jupiter, where it will enter orbit around the giant gas planet and sneak up on Europa during dozens of radiation-soaked flybys.

Scientists are almost sure of the existence deep ocean and global under the frozen crust of Europe. And where there is water, maybe lifemaking the Moon one of the most promising places to look for it.

Europa Clipper will not search for life; It has no life detectors. Instead the ship will focus on ingredients necessary for lifesearching for organic compounds and other clues under the ice in search of suitable conditions. “Ocean worlds like Europa are unique not only because they can be habitable, but because they can be habitable today,” NASA scientist Gina DiBraccio said ahead of the launch.

Delayed by Hurricane Milton

SpaceX launched Clipper on a 3 billion kilometer journey, launching the spacecraft on a Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. Mission, from $5.2 billion (4.8 billion euros), was about to go off the rails because of transistors.

It wasn’t until this spring that NASA learned that the Clipper’s transistors might be more vulnerable to intense impacts. radiation field Jupiter than expected. Clipper will support several million chest X-rays during each of its 49 Europa flybys. The space agency spent months analyzing everything before concluding in September that the mission could continue as planned. Hurricane Milton added to the concern and delayed the launch by several days.

hair clipper basketball court size Spreading its solar wings, it will pass Mars and then Earth on its way to Jupiter to take advantage of the pull of gravity. The probe weighing almost 5700 kg was supposed to achieve largest planet in the solar system 2030.

Ocean 120 kilometers deep

Clipper will enter Jupiter orbit every 21 days. Someday he will approach Europe, one of 95 known satellites around Jupiter and similar in size to our Moon. The ship will pass 25 km from Europe, much closer than the few previous visitors.

The airborne radar will try penetrate the ice cover The moon is believed to be between 15 and 24 km thick. The depth of the ocean can be 120 km or more. The spacecraft contains nine instruments, the sensitive electronic components of which are stored in a chamber with dense walls made of zinc and aluminum. protect them from radiation. Exploration will continue until 2034.

According to scientists, if conditions are favorable for life on Europa, this will open the possibility of life on other ocean worlds in our solar system and beyond. With an underground ocean and geysers, Saturn’s moon Enceladus another one of the main candidates.

video editor • Emma DeRuiter