NASA to send spaceship on 1.8 billion mile mission to explore life on Jupiter

14 October 2024, 14:23 | Updated: 14 October 2024, 14:26

This illustration provided by NASA depicts the Europa Clipper spacecraft above the surface of the moon Europa, foreground, and Jupiter behind
A spaceship is due to take off for a mission to look for life on Jupiter. Picture: Alamy

By Flaminia Luck

A spaceship is due to take off from Florida this morning for a mission to look for life on Jupiter.

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The Europa Clipper is heading to Jupiter to study one of its moons - which is thought to have a huge underground frozen ocean, twice as big as earth.

The spaceship will have to travel 1.8bn miles and it will take five and a half years to get there.

It is not due to arrive into the planet's orbit until 2030.

This illustration provided by NASA depicts the Europa Clipper spacecraft over the moon, Europa, with Jupiter at background left. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)
This illustration provided by NASA depicts the Europa Clipper spacecraft over the moon, Europa, with Jupiter at background left. Picture: Alamy

Located 628 million km from Earth, Europa is just a bit bigger than our moon.

The U.S. space agency's robotic solar-powered Europa Clipper spacecraft will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, carrying nine scientific instruments.

After a delay caused by Hurricane Milton, NASA set a aunch time for 12:06pm on Monday.

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