One day after launching a Starship rocket on test fight in Texas SpaceX fired off Falcon Heavy rocket from Florida Monday sending a $5.2 billion NASA probe on 1.8 billion mile voyage to jupiter to find out if one of moons host a habitable sub surface ocean.
The Europa Clipper will brake into orbit around Jupiter in April 2030 setting up 49 close flybys of the moon Europa an ice covered region with inside warmed by retenless squeezing of Jupiter gravity as it swings the giant planet in elliptical orbit.
Data from past mission and long range studies from Earth show a salt water ocean lurks beneath moon frozen crust providing a habitable environment.
Microbial life exist in ocean is unknown but Europa Clipper tools will try to find out if it is least possible.
“We want to determine whether Europa has potential to support simple life in deep ocean, beneath its icy layer” “We want to understand whether Europa has key ingredient to support life in its ocean the right chemical elements and energy source for life”
Project Scientist Robert Pappalardo said
“Europa is ice covered moon of Jupiter about the size of Earth moon but believed to have global subsurface ocean that contains more than twice the water of all of Earth oceans combined”
Europa Clipper Launch
To get to jupiter the clipper will first fly past Mars on March 1 using red planet gravity too its speed and bend trajectory to send the probe back toward Earth for another gravity assist flyby in December 2026.
The probe will brake into orbit around Jupiter on April 11,2030 using the gravity of moon Ganymede to slow down before a six to seven hour firing of probe thrusters.
The first of 49 planned flybys of Europa low as 16 miles above surface will start in early 2031.
The mission is expected to last at least three years with chance of extension depending on spacecraft health.
The Clipper will end its voyage with kamikaze descent to Jupiter moon Ganymede to prevent any chance of future uncontrolled crash on Europa that might bring microbes to moon and its habitable sub surface environment.
The Clipper was designed to withstand doses of radiation while making close flybys of Europa housing its flight computer and sensitive gear inside a vault shielded by sheets of aluminium zinc alloy.
Engineers held review to decide how that might affect Clipper and finally concluded the spacecraft could minimize radiation induced degradation by changing the way the flybys are executed.
The only change was to delay launch for years to replace components.
Engineers were dismayed to discover earlier that electrical components used throughout spacecraft failed lower levels of radiation than expected.
“The distance of Jupiter is five times farther from sun than the Earth is That means it is very cold out there and there only faint sunlight to power the solar arrays so they are huge”
Once deployed the 13.5 foot wide solar arrays will stretch more than 100 feet from end to end more than length of basketball court with two radar antennas extending 58 feet from each array.
NASA planned to launch clipper past week but mission managers ordered a delay to avoid Hurricane Milton which swept across Cape Canaveral on Thursday.
One day slip was ordered to resolve a technical issue and while details were not provided the rocket was cleared for launch.
Right one time the triple core falcon Heavy 27 first engines ignited and throttled up at 12:6pm EDT pushing the towering rocket away from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center with over 5 million pounds of thrust.
Falcon Heavy is giving Europa Clipper its all sending the spacecraft to farthest destination we have ever sent which mean mission requires maximum performance.
“I do not know about you guys but I can not think of better mission to sacrifice booster for where we might have chance to discover life in own solar system”
Missian scientists were attempt to get long mission underway.
“What would be greatest outocme?
“In future may be NASA could send a lander to scoop down below surface and literally search for signs of life”
Pappalardo said.