Wed, Oct 02, 2024
Europa Clipper Launch
Launching soon on a mission to explore Jupiter's ocean world. Europa Clipper will try to determine if Jupiter's icy moon Europa currently has habitable conditions.
A planned launch on Oct. 10, 2024, this will be the first mission to conduct a detailed study of Jupiter's moon Europa. There’s scientific evidence that the ingredients for life may exist on Europa right now.
Europa Clipper will travel 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion km) to reach Jupiter in April 2030. The spacecraft will orbit Jupiter, and conduct 49 close flybys of Europa. On each orbit, the spacecraft will spend less than a day in the dangerous radiation zone near Europa before zipping back out. Two to three weeks later, it will repeat the process. The spacecraft carries nine science instruments, and a gravity experiment that uses the telecommunications system. All science instruments will operate simultaneously on every pass.