Cape Canaveral: A groundbreaking mission is set to take flight from Florida aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket, propelling a spacecraft into the depths of our solar system in pursuit of extraterrestrial life on Europa, a captivating moon shrouded in mystery as it orbits the gas giant Jupiter.
Scientists believe that beneath Europa’s icy crust lies a vast ocean, potentially containing more than double the amount of water found on Earth.
The Europa Clipper spacecraft, which is expected to outpace a European mission launched last year by leveraging a ‘cosmic piggyback,’ will arrive at Europa by 2030. What it discovers could reshape our understanding of life within our solar system.
Launch Delayed
After facing delays due to Hurricane Milton, the Europa Clipper is cleared for lift-off at 12:06 PM local time (5:06 PM BST) today. Engineers at Cape Canaveral have inspected the launchpad for damage and deemed it ready for launch.
Mark Fox-Powell, a planetary microbiologist at the Open University, emphasizes the mission’s significance, stating that, “If we discover life far from the Sun, it would imply a separate origin of life from Earth. That would be hugely significant and could mean life is common in our solar system.”
Bright and Enigmatic Moon
Europa, located 628 million kilometers from Earth, is slightly larger than our moon, but its reflective icy surface would appear five times brighter if it were visible in our sky. With an ice crust estimated to be up to 25 kilometers thick, scientists suspect a salty ocean lies beneath, containing the necessary chemical ingredients for simple life.
The idea that Europa might harbor life has intrigued scientists since the 1970s when water ice was first observed through telescopes. Subsequent missions, including Voyager 1 and 2, provided close-up images, while NASA’s Galileo spacecraft in 1995 revealed a surface marked by dark, reddish-brown cracks potentially rich in salts and sulfur compounds.
The James Webb Telescope has since detected possible water plumes shooting 160 kilometers above Europa’s surface, but no mission has spent enough time near the moon to uncover its mysteries.
Mapping Europa’s Ocean
With advanced instruments onboard, the Europa Clipper aims to map almost the entire moon and analyze dust particles, as well as fly through the water plumes.
Britney Schmidt, an associate professor at Cornell University, has designed a laser to penetrate the ice. “I’m excited to understand Europa’s plumbing and map its subduction zones and tectonics,” Schmidt said.
However, the spacecraft will face challenges, including significant radiation exposure. The Clipper will endure radiation equivalent to one million X-rays during its approximately 50 flybys of Europa, necessitating heavily shielded electronics.
Epic Journey Ahead
As the largest spacecraft ever built for a planetary mission, the Europa Clipper will begin on a journey of 1.8 billion miles, utilizing a gravitational slingshot effect around Earth and Mars to propel itself toward Jupiter. It is set to overtake JUICE, a European Space Agency spacecraft also headed for Europa and Ganymede, another of Jupiter’s moons.
Once the Clipper reaches Europa in 2030, it will activate its engines to enter the correct orbit for data collection.
Searching habitability
Space scientists maintain a cautious stance regarding the discovery of life, clarifying that they do not expect to find human-like creatures. Michelle Dougherty, a professor of space physics at Imperial College London, explains that, “We are searching for the potential for habitability, which requires liquid water, a heat source, and organic material- all stable over a long period.”
The findings could inform future missions aimed at landing on Europa’s surface. An international team from NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory will oversee the mission.