Jupiter's icy moon: 8 top NASA images of Europa Clipper mission
The Europa Clipper mission aims to explore Europa, a moon of Jupiter thought to have an ocean beneath its icy surface.
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The mission's primary goal is to determine if Europa has the conditions necessary to support life by studying its ice shell, ocean, and potential plumes of water vapour.
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The spacecraft has various scientific instruments, such as cameras, spectrometers, and ice-penetrating radar, to collect data on Europa's surface and subsurface.
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Europa's surface is primarily made of water ice, with potential salts and organic materials that could indicate chemical processes favourable to life.
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Scientists believe that the subsurface ocean could contain more than twice the amount of water found on Earth.
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Europa Clipper will conduct multiple flybys of Europa, gathering detailed information about its surface and geological activity during each pass.
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The journey to Jupiter is about 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometres), and Europa Clipper will take a curved route, flying around Mars and then Earth.
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The spacecraft will begin orbiting Jupiter in April 2030, and in 2031 it will start making those 49 science-focused flybys of Europa while looping around the gas giant.
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About three hours after launch, Europa Clipper will deploy its pair of massive solar arrays, one at a time, and direct them at the Sun.
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Europa Clipper will assist scientists in confirming the presence of organics and searching for energy sources beneath the moon's surface.