Launch of the Europa Clipper Mission.
NASA is sending a super cool spacecraft to explore Europa under the Europa Clipper Mission! The spacecraft will be launched on 10th October 2024 and reach Europa in 2030.
But do you know where is Europa? Europa is the fourth largest moon of Jupiter, and scientists think it might have a hidden ocean of saltwater under its icy surface! This ocean could have even more water than Earth's oceans combined!
Exploring Europa could help us find signs of life beyond our planet. Isn’t that awesome?
The aim of the Europa Clipper mission.
This mission is super cool because it wants to find out if there are places under Europa’s icy surface where life could exist. It has three big goals: learn about the ice shell, the water beneath it, and the moon’s landforms.
The Europa Clipper spacecraft will zoom by Europa many times, getting really close! It will fly over different parts of the moon to collect lots of info.
This mission will also help us determine whether life could exist on other planets, not just Earth. So cool, right?
About the spacecraft.
Meet the Europa Clipper! This is a cool spaceship powered by the sun! When its solar arrays are open, it is longer than a basketball court – over 30 meters long!
The Europa Clipper has 24 engines and nine excellent tools to help it explore. It also has unique cameras that take pictures of Europa and check its temperature and surface!
It also has gadgets to see what Europa is made of. The spaceship can even collect gas and dust to learn more about Europa. With its radar, it can see if there is an ocean under the ice! How exciting is that?
