"Just amazing": NASA launches Europa Clipper to explore possibly habitable world off Jupiter

The massive spacecraft will explore an ocean-covered moon near Jupiter to search for life's building blocks

Published October 14, 2024 3:24PM (EDT)

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the Europa Clipper spacecraft aboard launches from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on October 14, 2024. The spacecraft Clipper will soon launch for Jupiter's moon Europa, one of dozens of moons orbiting the Solar System's biggest planet and the nearest spot in our celestial neighborhood that could offer a perch for life. It should reach orbit around Jupiter and Europa in 2031, where it will begin a detailed study of the moon scientists believe is covered in frozen water, which could provide a similar habitat to Earth. (Photo by Gregg Newton / AFP) (Photo by GREGG NEWTON/AFP via Getty Images)
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the Europa Clipper spacecraft aboard launches from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on October 14, 2024. The spacecraft Clipper will soon launch for Jupiter's moon Europa, one of dozens of moons orbiting the Solar System's biggest planet and the nearest spot in our celestial neighborhood that could offer a perch for life. It should reach orbit around Jupiter and Europa in 2031, where it will begin a detailed study of the moon scientists believe is covered in frozen water, which could provide a similar habitat to Earth. (Photo by Gregg Newton / AFP) (Photo by GREGG NEWTON/AFP via Getty Images)

NASA successfully launched a vehicle meant to explore an ocean-covered world in our solar system and seek out the building blocks for life.

Once it reaches its destination, the Europa Clipper will examine the Jupiter's moon Europa. That moon is almost entirely covered by a vast ocean underneath a crust of ice. Scientists have long speculated that the moon — which also boasts a thin but oxygen-rich atmosphere —could harbor simple lifeforms.

The Clipper is the end result of a $5.2 billion project that began in 2013. It is the largest spacecraft that NASA has ever launched and will face a years-long journey to the moon whose surface ice sheets could be as much as ten miles thick.

“Europa Clipper will undoubtedly deliver mind-blowing science," NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Director Laurie Leshin shared.  While always bittersweet to send something we’ve labored over for years off on its long journey, we know this remarkable team and spacecraft will expand our knowledge of our solar system and inspire future exploration."

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket got the Clipper off-Earth, separating from the spacecraft an hour after launch. The Clipper is expected to end its 1.8 million-mile journey in April 2030, when it will enter Jupiter's orbit. NASA hopes the spacecraft will successfully fly by the moon 49 times to take readings.

“Everything we’re going to learn from Europa, it’s just amazing," NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer Jenny Kampmeier shared during the launch's livestream. "All scientific disciplines can really gain something from this, and it’s going to change our understanding of our place in the universe if this is a world that could support life.”

Watch the launch below:

 


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