NASA’s “Europa Clipper” is scheduled to be launched in October 2024 to go to Europa, where it will look for signs of whether the satellite is suitable for life (Naijatechnews Note: Europa has been identified by scientists as one of the places in the solar system that may contain microbial alien life).
NASA expects the spacecraft to arrive in April 2030, but its orbit will not be around Europa, but around Jupiter. Simply put, Europa Clipper will continue eight years of research conducted by the Galileo probe, which previously detected data indicating the existence of an “underground ocean” beneath Europa’s ice.
Due to the adverse effects of Jupiter’s magnetosphere radiation in the orbit of Europa, the “Europa Clipper” decided to change to a safer elliptical orbit around Jupiter and flew close by Europa 44 times, so the mission can be regarded as an ESA In addition to the Jupiter Ice Moon Probe launched in 2022 (the Jupiter Ice Moon Probe will fly by Europa twice and Callisto multiple times before entering Ganymede’s orbit).
“We’re going to do a really comprehensive assessment of Europa,” said Jennifer Scully of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.
Among the many mysteries about Europa, perhaps the most important are the structure of its internal ocean and questions about whether it is habitable. At present, although the “Europa Clipper” cannot directly search for life, it will lay the foundation for future life detection missions.
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