Skip to main content
Tags: nasa | jupiter | europa | space x | galileo

NASA to Launch $5.2 Billion Mission to Jupiter's Moon

By    |   Thursday, 03 October 2024 10:36 AM EDT

NASA will launch its most ambitious Jupiter mission to date next week as the Europa Clipper is on schedule to depart from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

On Oct. 10, the exploratory mission will travel atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket to begin its five-and-a-half year journey to Europa — Jupiter's fourth largest and arguably most scientifically important satellites. Europa has long been a desired mission for NASA based on its atmospheric conditions and massive liquid oceans that hold twice as much water as all of Earth's oceans combined.

NASA scientists have detected evidence of life sustaining materials such as carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. These essential buildings blocks nestled beneath a subsurface ocean could harbor just the right conditions for organic life.

The $5.2 billion spacecraft carries a payload which includes cameras and spectrometers to produce high-resolution images and composition maps of the moon's surface and atmosphere. Ice-penetrating radar will be used to search for subsurface water and thermal instruments to detect locations of warmer ice and potential recent eruptions of water.

The Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission with a height of 16 feet and a length of more than 100 feet when its solar arrays are fully deployed.

The moon was first suspected of having water when the Galileo spacecraft discovered the venting of thin plumes of water miles into space in 1995. The smooth surface of Europa also suggests the outer ice layer is being continuously remade by interior processes.

The upcoming launch of the Europa Clipper is a much welcome reprieve after a summer of frustration following the inability of the Boeing Starliner to return American astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. They are now scheduled to return to Earth early in 2025 on SpaceX's Dragon capsule.

Europa Clipper is scheduled to rendezvous with Jupiter in April 2030 and conduct 49 close flybys of the moon.

James Morley III

James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature. 

© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


Newsfront
NASA will launch its most ambitious Jupiter mission to date next week as the Europa Clipper is on schedule to depart from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
nasa, jupiter, europa, space x, galileo
320
2024-36-03
Thursday, 03 October 2024 10:36 AM
Newsmax Media, Inc.

Sign up for Newsmax’s Daily Newsletter

Receive breaking news and original analysis - sent right to your inbox.

(Optional for Local News)
Privacy: We never share your email address.
Join the Newsmax Community
Read and Post Comments
Please review Community Guidelines before posting a comment.
 
TOP

Interest-Based Advertising | Do not sell or share my personal information

Newsmax, Moneynews, Newsmax Health, and Independent. American. are registered trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc. Newsmax TV, and Newsmax World are trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc.

NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Download the Newsmax App
NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved