8 Facts To Know About NASA's Latest Mission To Jupiter's Moon Europa

NASA's Europa Clipper, the largest spacecraft made by NASA for a planetary mission, will travel 1.8 billion miles from Kennedy Space Center to Jupiter's moon Europa. Launch window starts October 10th.

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Europa, Jupiter's Moon, possesses the potential for supporting life other than on Earth. There is scientific evidence indicating the presence of ingredients necessary for life. Europa possibly has a significant internal ocean, organic compounds, and sources of energy.

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The Europa Clipper spacecraft will face intense radiation near Jupiter, second only to the Sun. Engineers built a vault to shield electronics from charged particles accelerated by Jupiter's powerful magnetic field, planning safe orbits to avoid high-radiation areas.

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Europa Clipper is equipped with NASA's most advanced scientific instruments to analyze the moon's interior, composition, and potential to support life. Nine science instruments and a gravity experiment will be active simultaneously during encounters to provide comprehensive data.

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Europa Clipper will orbit Jupiter, conducting 49 close flybys of Europa for scientific observation. It will briefly enter Jupiter's hazardous radiation zone near Europa before exiting, repeating the process every two to three weeks.

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The biggest spacecraft created by NASA for a planetary mission is the Europa Clipper. It has dimensions of 100 feet in length and 58 feet in width, including fully extended antennas and solar panels.

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Traveling to Jupiter covers a distance of around 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) and lasts for 5 and a half years. The spacecraft is set to reach Jupiter's orbit in 2030 after journeying 480 million miles (770 million kilometers) from Earth.

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About a thousand individuals from institutions in the U.S. and Europe, including over 220 scientists, are involved in the Europa Clipper mission. Over 4,000 people have contributed since its approval in 2015.

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"Message in a Bottle" spacecraft mission has been joined by 2.6 million individuals, who are carrying a poem by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón. Along with recordings of individuals saying "water" in 100 different languages. Greetings are being conveyed from one aquatic planet to another.

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