An illustration of the unmanned probe ‘Europa Clipper’ arriving in the skies of ‘Europa’, a satellite orbiting the solar system’s 5th planet Jupiter (small celestial body on the left of the photo). Provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
NASA’s unmanned probe ‘Europa Clipper’, which will investigate whether life can live on Jupiter’s moon Europa, will be launched next week.
According to NASA on the 4th (local time), the Europa Clipper will be loaded onto Space It is scheduled to be launched.
The mission of this spacecraft is to conduct a detailed exploration to determine whether Europa has suitable conditions for life.
After leaving Earth, it will travel approximately 2.9 billion kilometers over the five and a half years, enter Jupiter’s orbit in April 2030, and fly close to Europa to thoroughly investigate Europa’s environment.
The goal is to scan almost the entire satellite by circling it nearly 50 times at an altitude of 25 km above the surface, which is the closest it can get to Europa, and continuously flying to different locations.
The spacecraft will have cameras and spectrometers to take and map high-resolution images of Europa’s surface and thin atmosphere, ice-penetrating radar, magnetometers and gravity gauges to search for clues about the ocean and its deep interior, the temperature of the ice and recent eruptions of water. It is equipped with nine pieces of equipment, including a heat detector that can determine its location.
Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft ever developed by NASA for planetary exploration missions.
This spacecraft was equipped with a large-scale solar charging panel because it had to fly in the Jupiter system, which is more than five times the distance from the Sun to the Earth. The height of the spacecraft is 5m and the total length is 30.5m, which is longer than the length of a basketball court (28m).
Europa is the sixth largest satellite in the solar system, with an equatorial diameter of 3,100 km and 90% the size of the moon.
Scientists estimate that there is a salty ocean beneath the 15-25 km long ice layer on Europa’s surface, which may provide an environment suitable for life.
NASA will hold a public meeting attended by a panel of experts at 2 p.m. on the 9th, the day before the Europa Clipper launch. This event will be streamed live on NASA Kennedy Space Center’s YouTube and X accounts. Any member of the public can post questions about the Europa Clipper on the platform.