NASA’s Europa Clipper Sets Sail for Jupiter

Mission will investigate the potential habitability of the moon's subsurface ocean.

Alison Klesman

Tuesday, October 15, 2024 at 04:16 PM ET

Verified

Edited By: tccjeremy

Europa Clipper flies above the icy surface of its eponymous moon in this artist's concept. [Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech]

Key Takeaways:

NASA's Europa Clipper mission successfully launched on October 14, 2024, embarking on a 5½-year journey to Jupiter's icy moon Europa, recognized as one of the most compelling worlds for potential extraterrestrial life due to its believed subsurface saltwater ocean.
Arriving in 2030, the spacecraft will orbit Jupiter and perform 49 close flybys of Europa, using nine instruments to study its ice shell, hidden ocean, composition, and geological activity, all while mitigating intense radiation with a shielded central vault.
As the first dedicated mission to Europa, its primary goal is to assess the moon's potential habitability, with the mission concluding in 2034 by intentionally deorbiting into Ganymede to prevent potential contamination of Europa's ocean.

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NASA’s newest scientific flagship is on its way to the Jupiter system to explore the icy moon Europa, one of the most compelling worlds in our solar system.

The mission lifted off October 14 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:06 p.m. EDT aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Roughly an hour later, the spacecraft separated from its launch vehicle, embarking on a cruise through the inner solar system. A pair of gravity assists will ultimately slingshot it to Jupiter. The spacecraft will travel some 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) over the next 5½ years and reach the Jupiter system in 2030.