OAN Staff Avril Elfie
4:50 PM – Monday, October 14, 2024
NASA launched a spacecraft rocket called “European Clipper'' to explore Jupiter.
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On Monday, the spacecraft departed for Jupiter to explore the planet's moon Europa and reveal whether its vast hidden ocean can sustain harsh conditions for life.
“Europa is the sixth largest moon in the solar system and the fourth largest of Jupiter's moons. Despite its cracked and discolored appearance, it is the smoothest solid object in the solar system. , only a few hundred meters high, and large craters are rare. planetary.org.
After a five-and-a-half-year journey to reach Jupiter, Europa Clipper will enter low orbit around the gas giant and perform multiple flybys while being bathed in radiation, allowing it to get very close to Europa.
Scientists believe that beneath Europa's icy crust lies a vast global ocean. The moon is one of the most promising places to look for life, because wherever there is water, there can be life.
The spacecraft will search for favorable conditions beneath the ice, looking for organic compounds and other hints, focusing on the elements needed to support life.
SpaceX began Clipper's 1.8 billion mile journey, launching the spacecraft aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
“Say goodbye to Clipper as it heads to Europe,” Pranay Mishra, flight director at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, announced from Southern California.
“The science around this is really interesting,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Jim Freeh. Associated Press I returned to the launch site.
He went on to say that scientists are still studying the depths of our oceans and that “here we are looking far beyond.”
NASA has discovered that Clipper's transistors may be more susceptible to Jupiter's powerful radiation fields than originally thought. During its 49 flybys of Europa, Clipper will endure millions of chest X-rays.
The space agency considered everything for several months and decided in September that the mission could go ahead as planned.
The Clipper, whose solar wings are the size of a basketball court, will fly over Earth and Mars before heading to Jupiter for gravity assistance. By 2030, the approximately 13,000-pound probe is expected to arrive at the solar system's largest planet.
Unlike the previous few visits, the spacecraft will be gliding as low as 26 miles above Europa. The moon's ice sheet is thought to be 16 to 15 miles thick, and if all goes well, the onboard radar will be able to penetrate it. The ocean below could be more than 130 miles deep.
Exploration is officially scheduled to continue until 2034.
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