Hurricane “Milton” disrupted the plans for the launch of NASA’s “Europa Clipper” probe. But now we finally set off to Jupiter’s moon Europa – in search of huge oceans.
In search of a world that could potentially support life, the Europa Clipper space probe set out for Jupiter’s moon Europa. The probe was launched from the Cape Canaveral spaceport in the US state of Florida using a “Falcon Heavy” rocket from Elon Musk’s private space company SpaceX, the US space agency Nasa said. The launch was actually supposed to take place a few days earlier, but was postponed due to Hurricane Milton.
NASA’s largest space probe
After almost three billion kilometers of flight, “Europa Clipper” is scheduled to arrive in Jupiter’s orbit in 2030. Among other things, the probe will then conduct several close flybys to investigate whether conditions for life may exist on this moon of Jupiter. Europe is considered “the most promising potentially life-friendly environment in the solar system,” according to NASA.
“Europa Clipper” is the largest space probe NASA has ever built for a planetary mission. She has nine scientific instruments on board. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is also involved in the mission.
Jupiter’s moon Europa – one of four large satellites of the gas planet – is surrounded by an ice crust. Under the surface, scientists suspect an ocean that could contain more water than all of Earth’s seas combined.
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Image source:
- NASA Europa Clipper: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Source: www.digitalfernsehen.de
