Europa, Jupiter’s icy moon could have the potential to sustain future human life and to confirm this, the NASA has confirmed the launch of the Europa Clipper, whose plan is to reach the Jovian orbit in 2030.
Recently announced, NASA announced that it is ready to launch its spacecraft in 2024, on the back of the rocket SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Elon Musk, which will cost the space agency approximately $ 178 million.
The point is that the SpaceX spacecraft is the cheapest alternative compared to what it would have cost NASA use your Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
The United States Congress duly indicated that they would be 2 billion dollars released from the budget In the pending era, therefore, that is how SpaceX was chosen to carry out the mission.
The mission was planned with the objective of determining if Europe harbors conditions suitable for human lifesays NASA on the mission website.
The Clipper will carry a “suite of advanced instruments” to explore its composition, gravity, atmospheric dust and its magnetic field, as well as the search for water.
Other objectives include obtain “high resolution images from the surface of Europa ”and detect“ signs of recent or ongoing geological activity ”.
In this sense, the team also hopes to learn more about the ice sheet and the ocean of the moon, because the ship will pass a few 40 or 50 times close on its observation orbit tour.
It is worth saying that the launch of the Europa Clipper is scheduled for October 2024, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy Space Center, in Florida.
If all goes according to plan by the agency and SpaceX, it is estimated that the spacecraft will reach the orbit of Jupiter in April 2030, just over five years after its launch.
NASA’s Europa Clipper will reach Jupiter in 2030
Reaching the orbit of Jupiter in 2030, NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft will conduct a detailed study to determine whether the icy moon could harbor conditions suitable for life.
After each flyby, the Clipper will send its payload of data back to Earth along with a wealth of information to determine changes in the satellite’s path in case regions are found that arouse curiosity and need more study.
The navigation altitude of the Europa Clipper will vary from 2,700 to 25 kilometers, above the surface of the moon at the closest approach and most overflights will be below 100 km.
The spacecraft will also pass two other large Jovian moons, Ganymede and Callisto, which will help shape and redirect its orbit, according to NASA on the mission website.
The Clipper under construction is 5 meters high and its solar panels will spread 30.5 meters from end to end. Upon takeoff, you will have a mass of about 6,000 kilograms, including fuel for the trip.
In detail, the Europa Clipper payload will include cameras and spectrometers to produce high-resolution images and composition maps of Europa’s surface and thin atmosphere, as well as a ice penetrating radar to search for groundwater, plus a magnetometer and gravity meters to measure the moon’s magnetic field and unlock clues about its ocean and its deep interior.
There are certainties that will operate as a starting point for researchers: in 2012, the recently returned Hubble space telescope observed the components of water vapor over Europa, providing the first solid evidence of water columns on the satellite.
If the columns exist, and if they are linked to an underground ocean, they will help scientists investigate the chemical composition of Europa and the ocean’s potential to host life.
* Article originally posted on August 2, 2021.
It may interest you: China raises awareness and promotes the ‘toilet revolution’ in rural areas