24/7 Space News
OUTER PLANETS
NASA launches probe to study if life possible on icy Jupiter moon
NASA launches probe to study if life possible on icy Jupiter moon
By Chandan KHANNA with Lucie AUBOURG in Washington
Kennedy Space Center, United States (AFP) Oct 14, 2024

NASA's Europa Clipper probe blasted off from Florida on Monday, bound for an icy moon of Jupiter to discover whether it has the ingredients to support life.

Lift-off aboard a powerful SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket took place shortly after noon (1600 GMT), with the probe set to reach Jupiter's moon Europa in five and a half years.

NASA later confirmed that it had successfully acquired a signal from the probe and that its massive solar arrays -- designed to capture the weak light that reaches Jupiter -- had fully unfolded.

The mission will allow the US space agency to uncover new details about Europa, which scientists believe could hold an ocean beneath its icy surface.

"With Europa Clipper, we're not searching for life on Europa, but we're trying to see if this ocean world is habitable, and that means we're looking for the water," NASA official Gina DiBraccio said ahead of the launch.

"We're looking for energy sources, and we're really looking for the chemistry there, so that we can understand what habitable environments might be throughout our whole universe," she added.

If life's ingredients are found, another mission would then have to make the journey to try to detect it.

"It's a chance for us to explore not a world that might have been habitable billions of years ago" like Mars, Europa Clipper program scientist Curt Niebur told reporters, "but a world that might be habitable today, right now."

At 30 meters (98 feet) wide with its solar panels fully extended, the probe is the largest ever designed by NASA for interplanetary exploration.

- Primitive life? -

While Europa's existence has been known since 1610, the first close-up images were taken by the Voyager probes in 1979, which revealed mysterious reddish lines crisscrossing its surface.

The next probe to reach Jupiter's icy moon was NASA's Galileo probe in the 1990s, which found it was highly likely that the moon was home to an ocean.

This time, the Europa Clipper carries a host of sophisticated instruments, including cameras, a spectrograph, radar and a magnetometer to measure its magnetic forces.

The mission will look to determine the structure and composition of Europa's surface, its depth, and even the salinity of its ocean, as well as the way the two interact -- to find out, for example, if water rises to the surface in places.

The aim is to understand whether the three ingredients necessary for life are present: water, energy and certain chemical compounds.

If these conditions exist on Europa, life could be found in the ocean in the form of primitive bacteria, explained Bonnie Buratti, the mission's deputy project scientist.

But the bacteria would likely be too deep for the Europa Clipper to see.

- 49 flybys -

The probe will cover 2.9 billion kilometers (1.8 billion miles) during its journey, with arrival expected in April 2030.

The main mission will last another four years.

The probe will make 49 close flybys over Europa, coming as close as 25 kilometers above the surface.

It will be subjected to intense radiation -- the equivalent of several million chest x-rays on each pass.

Some 4,000 people have been working on the $5.2 billion mission for around a decade.

NASA says the investment is justified by the importance of the data that will be collected.

If our solar system turns out to be home to two habitable worlds (Europa and Earth), "think of what that means when you extend that result to the billions and billions of other solar systems in this galaxy," said Niebur.

"Setting aside the 'Is there life?' question on Europa, just the habitability question in and of itself opens up a huge new paradigm for searching for life in the galaxy," he added.

The Europa Clipper will operate at the same time as the European Space Agency's (ESA) Juice probe, which will study two other moons of Jupiter -- Ganymede and Callisto.

la/arp-des/sst

Dassault Aviation

Related Links
The million outer planets of a star called Sol

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
OUTER PLANETS
Is life possible on a Jupiter moon? NASA goes to investigate
Cape Canaveral (AFP) Oct 14, 2024
Is there anywhere else in our solar system that could support life? An imposing NASA probe is due to lift off on Monday on a five-and-a-half-year journey to Europa, one of Jupiter's many moons, to take the first detailed step toward finding out. The Europa Clipper mission will allow the US space agency to uncover new details about the moon, which scientists believe could hold an ocean of liquid water beneath its icy surface. Liftoff is scheduled for "no earlier than" Monday, October 14, from Cap ... read more

OUTER PLANETS
The astronaut wears Prada as Axiom unveils new spacesuit

NASA targets multiple Commercial Crew missions in 2024

Sail with NASA's Solar Sail Tech in Real-Time Simulation

Kremlin denies space programme lagging after SpaceX launch

OUTER PLANETS
In milestone, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight

SpaceX launches 23 more Starlink satellites into orbit

Momentus chosen by NASA for upcoming launch missions

Maritime Launch and Reaction Dynamics partner to advance Canadian orbital launch capabilities

OUTER PLANETS
Lichens Found Thriving at Mars Analog Research Stations

Controlled Propulsion for Gentle Landings

Cryptic Mars landscape revealed as ice thaws in southern hemisphere

New Team Evaluates Plans for NASA's Mars Sample Return Program

OUTER PLANETS
China sets ambitious space science development goals through 2050

Xi emphasizes China's drive to lead in space exploration

China launches Yaogan 43B remote-sensing satellites from Xichang

Shenzhou-18 Crew Tests Fire Alarms and Conducts Medical Procedures in Space

OUTER PLANETS
Iridium partners with Nordic Semiconductor for integration of global NTN Direct service

Space Business Insights Explored in New Book

China deploys 18 new satellites for Spacesail network

Airbus Defence and Space announces restructuring amid market challenges

OUTER PLANETS
Roman Space Telescope's 'Exoskeleton' Whirls Through Major Test

Goonhilly Expands Deep Space Communications Services

ESA partners with D-Orbit for first in-orbit servicing mission

NASA shifts to commercial satellite services, phases out legacy TDRS network

OUTER PLANETS
Using AI to find the smallest and closest exoplanets around sun-like stars

It's twins mystery of famed brown dwarf solved

Astronomers Use New Technique to Search for Alien Signals Between Planets

Rain may have helped form the first cells, kick-starting life as we know it

OUTER PLANETS
Is life possible on a Jupiter moon? NASA goes to investigate

NASA launches probe to study if life possible on icy Jupiter moon

Technicians prep Europa Clipper for propellant loading

Volcanoes may help reveal interior heat on Jupiter moon

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.