Europa Clipper: NASA's Bold Mission to Uncover Secrets of Jupiter's Moon

NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft has launched on a mission to explore Jupiter's moon, Europa, aiming to uncover whether its vast ocean under an icy crust could support life. The $5.2 billion mission, launching from the Kennedy Space Centre, will take 5.5 years to reach Jupiter and perform 49 flybys to study possible habitable conditions.

A NASA spacecraft is on an ambitious journey to explore Jupiter's intriguing moon, Europa, which may possess the conditions necessary to support life. Europa Clipper's mission, lasting until 2034, seeks to probe beneath the icy crust for organic materials essential for life.

Europa Clipper commenced its 1.8 million-mile voyage aboard SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket from Florida. The probe will gradually make its way to Jupiter, using flybys of Mars and Earth for gravitational assistance, with the aim of gathering data on the moon's ocean beneath its thick ice cover.

This $5.2 billion endeavor faced challenges from transistors vulnerable to Jupiter's radiation and weather delays but overcame these to start its mission. The spacecraft's findings could have implications for the possibility of life on other oceanic worlds like Saturn's Enceladus.

(With inputs from agencies.)