NASA is gearing up to launch its Europa Clipper mission on October 10th, aiming to explore Jupiter's moon Europa and determine if it harbors conditions suitable for life. The spacecraft will be carried into orbit on SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket and will spend nearly five and a half years journeying to Europa.
Marking the latest foray into space exploration , NASA is preparing to launch its first mission to explore Jupiter's moon, Europa, to determine if it harbors conditions suitable to support life.
NASA says the mission aims to answer the question: Does the global, subsurface ocean contain the organic compounds and energy sources necessary to sustain life? NASA's 100-foot-long and approximately 58-foot-wide Clipper probe is the largest spacecraft the agency has built for a planetary mission and will travel 1.8 billion miles to Europa.
Throughout the mission, the spacecraft must fly through one of the "most punishing radiation environments in our solar system -- second only to the Sun's," according to NASA.
NASA Europa Clipper Jupiter's Moon Space Exploration Life Beyond Earth
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