Suara.com – NASA holding hands SpaceX in a new $178 million mission contract to deliver the Clipper spacecraft to one of the Jupiter’s moon, Europe.
If all goes according to plan, the Clipper mission will take off in October 2024 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and arrive in Jupiter’s orbit in April 2030.
The mission will study Europa in depth with 50 close flights over four years.
Jupiter’s moon has a large ocean of liquid water beneath an icy shell and is considered one of the best places in the solar system to host alien life.
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One of Clipper’s tasks is to characterize oceans and ice shells, and find good and safe places to land life-hunting planes, which NASA has directed to develop.
Originally, the Europa Clipper mission was planned to be launched using a mega rocket Space Launch System (SLS).
However, SLS development was plagued by years of delays and cost overruns.
Last January, the Clipper team announced that the mission would be launched into space using a commercial rocket and now NASA has announced which rocket to use.
Reported from Space.com, Tuesday (27/7/2021), Clipper’s journey to Europa will be assisted by SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy.
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