NASA has successfully launched a spacecraft to Jupiter’s moon Europa
The American space agency (NASA) successfully launched the Europa Clipper spacecraft into space on Monday. It should study the atmosphere, soil and glaciers of Jupiter’s satellite Europa. Scientists believe that of the known planets and planetoids of the Solar System, Europa is the most suitable for the possible existence of protein life there.
The Falcon Heavy launch vehicle, which launched the spacecraft itself, was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida around noon local time. All stages of the rocket successfully separated, and the Europa Clipper began its journey to Jupiter.
Initially, the launch of the device was scheduled for October 10, but it had to be postponed due to Hurricane Milton, which passed through Florida on October 10-11.
The Europa Clipper mission is designed for four years. Jupiter’s satellite Europa is covered with a thick layer of ice, under which, as it is assumed, there is an ocean. This makes it one of the main objects for studying habitability in the Solar System. The main goal of the mission is to find out whether Europa has the conditions for life, such as water, energy and the necessary chemical compounds. As the head of the project, Jordan Evans, noted, the Europa Clipper device will not be able to directly detect life, since there are no instruments on board that can confirm its existence.
However, if the Europa Clipper proves the possibility of life on Europa, a second mission will be launched, specifically aimed at the search for life forms. Evans emphasized that the very fact of Europa’s habitability will open up new horizons in the search for life in the galaxy.
