NASA Launches Europa Clipper Probe to Explore Ocean Beneath Jupiter’s Icy Moon

The North American space agency NASA sent the probe this Monday The Clipper of Europewill study Europa, a moon of Jupiter that has an ocean under its icy surface with conditions that could be favorable for ocean life as known.

The space probe was launched from the NASA center in Florida at 5:06 pm (Lisbon time), aboard the Falcon Heavy rocket, from the SpaceX company, owned by tycoon Elon Musk.

The launch was four days later than expected due to the hurricane Miltonwhich hit the state of Florida on Wednesday night last week, causing 23 deaths, according to the latest report from the US authorities.

The mission The Clipper of Europe It is NASA’s first to “explore oceanic worlds beyond Earth”.

The probe will travel 2900 million kilometers and after starting the orbit of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, in April 2030, it will pass by Europa 49 times.

Europe, the smallest of the four Moon of Jupiter Discovered by Galileo Galilei in the 17th century, it is almost as big as the moon, the natural satellite of the Earth, but the interior is different. Data collected in the 1990s by the space probe Galileo revealed, according to NASA, strong evidence that “beneath Europa’s ice is a vast salty ocean, with more water than all the Earth’s oceans combined.”

In addition, according to scientists, this moon of Jupiter “could host organic compounds and energy sources under its surface”.

A probe The Clipper of Europe It is equipped with nine scientific instruments, including “ice-penetrating radar, cameras and a thermal instrument to detect warmer ice areas and recent water eruptions. “

To keep these devices running with power, under the weak sunlight that reaches Jupiterthe spacecraft will carry the largest solar panels ever used by NASA for an interplanetary mission. The length of the probe is 30.5 meters and the panels are open.

It is expected in 2031 that the The Clipper of Europe begin making scientific flights of Europa to “determine the thickness of the moon’s icy cover and its interaction with the ocean below, study its composition and characterize its geology” .

The European Space Agency has also sent its probe to the Jupiter system, Juice, in April 2023. A Juice it should reach its destination in July 2031, with the aim of finding life on Jupiter and its three giant icy moons – Callisto, Europa and Ganymede.