Rocket blasts off to Jupiter moon to investigate 'potential for habitable worlds beyond Earth'
14 October 2024, 17:39
A Nasa rocket has launched on a mission to investigate if a Jupiter moon can support life.
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The Europa Clipper was taken up by a SpaceX rocket that took off from from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral in Florida on Monday.
The mission aims to see if the icy Europa moon can support life beneath its surface - and whether it could contain the key for life "beyond our planet".
The trip will be 1.8 billion miles and will take five and a half years, with the aim that the Europa Clipper should enter Jupiter's orbit in 2030.
Scientists are particularly interested in the salty ocean beneath Europa's icy outer shell.
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NASA said: "The mission's three main science objectives are to understand the nature of the ice shell and the ocean beneath it, along with the moon's composition and geology.
"The mission's detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet."
The unmanned mission will see Europa Clipper carry out 49 close fly-bys of the moon over three years, during which it will carry out close investigations and experiments, flying as low as 16 miles away from the moon's surface.
The craft is the largest Nasa has ever built for a planetary mission, at 30 metres long and 17 metres wide.
Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. It is around 450 million miles away from Earth on average, depending on the planets' orbits. It has at least 95 known moons, of which Europa is among the largest.
Bonnie Buratti, a Nasa scientist on the project, said: "There is very strong evidence that the ingredients for life exist on Europa. But we have to go there to find out."
She added in a cautionary note: "Just to emphasise: we're not a life-detection mission. We're just looking for the conditions for life."
The mission's Florida launch was delayed by the arrival of Hurricane Milton last week.
