The mission will focus on finding out whether the planet, which is covered in ice and is believed to have a vast ocean beneath it, is habitable for life.
A vehicle will launch outer space The solar-powered “Europa Clipper” aboard the Falcon Heavy rocket from inside the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, carrying nine scientific instruments.
The vehicle is scheduled to enter orbit around a planet the buyer In 2030, after traveling a distance of 2.9 billion kilometers in a journey that takes about five and a half years.
The launch of the vehicle was delayed due to the hurricane Miltonbut NASA The launch was tentatively scheduled for 16:06 GMT on Monday.
Scientists have shown great interest in the salt water ocean, which previous studies indicated is located under the ice cover of Europa.
A scientist said Planets “There is very strong evidence that life exists on Europa. But we have to go there to find out,” Bonnie Buratti of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and deputy chief scientist for the mission.
She added, “I want to stress that we are not a mission to discover life. We are just looking for conditions suitable for life.”
Europa Clipper is considered the largest spacecraft ever built by NASA to carry out interplanetary missions, as it is 30.5 meters long, 17.6 meters wide, and weighs approximately six thousand kilograms.
The vehicle has three main goals: measuring the thickness of Europa’s outer icy layer and its interactions with its interior, knowing the moon’s composition, and determining its geological characteristics.
