\n<\/p>\n
<\/iframe><br \/><em>Watch a video about Europa Clipper.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Our fall fund-raiser is going on now. Please help EarthSky keep going. Donate to EarthSky today!<\/p>\n<h3>Meet Europa Clipper<\/h3>\n<p>Europa Clipper is NASA\u2019s mission to explore one of Jupiter\u2019s four large Galilean satellites. Europa has an icy outer crust that covers an ocean world. It holds twice as much water as Earth. So, Scientists want to know more about the habitability of this large moon. <\/p>\n<p>To get Europa Clipper from Earth to Jupiter in about 5 1\/2 years, the trajectory has to take advantage of flybys in the solar system. Therefore, the mission must launch between October 10 and Nov 5, 2024, due to planetary alignments. The first date, October 10, became a no-go after Hurricane Milton appeared on the scene, threatening Florida. Here\u2019s a list of the next launch opportunities for the mission.<\/p>\n<p>If the launch goes as planned, Europa Clipper will arrive at Jupiter in April 2030.<\/p>\n<p>Europa Clipper is NASA\u2019s largest planetary exploration spacecraft yet. When the solar sails unfold, they\u2019ll be 100 feet (30 meters) tall. At launch, the spacecraft will weigh as much as an African elephant.<\/p>\n<h3>What will the mission do?<\/h3>\n<p>Europa Clipper carries nine instruments. Some of the instruments will look down at the moon and record what it observes. While others will sample the environment the spacecraft passes through. The space around Europa is bathed with intense radiation from Jupiter. But this region may also have plumes of water erupting from under the moon\u2019s icy crust.<\/p>\n<p>To protect the spacecraft, Europa Clipper will be orbiting Jupiter and not the moon itself. The spacecraft will only dip into Europa\u2019s environment during close flybys. The spacecraft will make 49 flybys, one every two to three weeks of its mission. Europa Clipper will get as close as 16 miles (25 km) from the moon\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n<p>NASA said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The mission\u2019s three main science objectives are to understand the nature of the ice shell and the ocean beneath it, along with the moon\u2019s composition and geology. The mission\u2019s detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_425547\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-425547\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-425547\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">View larger. | Artist\u2019s concept of Europa Clipper sweeping past Europa, one of the large, fascinating moons of giant Jupiter. Image via NASA\/ JPL-Caltech.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Could Europa be habitable?<\/h3>\n<p>Could life exist in the oceans of Europa under the layers of ice? That\u2019s what scientists want to know. Plus, how is there liquid water under ice in such a cold place? James O\u2019Donoghue of the University of Reading wrote for The Conversation:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The water in Europa\u2019s ocean is kept liquid due to frictional heating. This heating occurs because Europa becomes stretched and then relaxed as it interacts with Jupiter\u2019s gravity on its orbital path around the giant planet. For Europa\u2019s ocean to be habitable, a steady supply of ingredients is needed to allow some form of chemosynthesis to take place.<\/p>\n<p>If these ingredients exist, they could come from hydrothermal vents on Europa\u2019s rocky seafloor, like those on Earth, or from material seeping down through the icy crust, the \u2018sea ceiling\u2019 if you like. We do not yet know if these mechanisms are plausible, so we need more data from many different angles.<\/p>\n<p>There is growing evidence that plumes of material are escaping from Europa\u2019s surface into space. If this material is from the ocean, measuring its composition would give us insights into the habitability of that ocean.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure class=\"align-center zoomable\">\n <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/623489\/original\/file-20241004-15-6vf0ce.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/623489\/original\/file-20241004-15-6vf0ce.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/623489\/original\/file-20241004-15-6vf0ce.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/623489\/original\/file-20241004-15-6vf0ce.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/623489\/original\/file-20241004-15-6vf0ce.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/623489\/original\/file-20241004-15-6vf0ce.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/623489\/original\/file-20241004-15-6vf0ce.jpeg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px\"\/><figcaption> Artist\u2019s concept (not to scale) showing a cutaway of Europa\u2019s interior. At top is the outer icy shell with plumes, then an ocean of liquid water and finally a rocky interior with possible hydrothermal vents on the seafloor. Image via NASA\/ JPL-Caltech.<br \/><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Bottom line: Europa Clipper is NASA\u2019s mission to explore the icy, ocean moon of Jupiter. Scientists want to know if life could exist in Europa\u2019s ocean.<\/p>\n<p>Read more: A message to Europa from the people of Earth<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"cp-load-after-post\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"post-author\">\n<h4>Kelly Kizer Whitt<\/h4>\n<p> View Articles\n <\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-tags\">\n<h6 data-udy-fe=\"text_7c58270d\">About the Author:<\/h6>\n<p>Kelly Kizer Whitt – EarthSky\u2019s roving nature reporter on YouTube – writes and edits some of the most fascinating stories at EarthSky.org. She’s been writing about science, with a focus on astronomy, for decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine and made regular contributions to other outlets, including AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club. She has nine published books, including a children’s picture book, Solar System Forecast, and a young adult dystopian novel, A Different Sky.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/space\/europa-clipper-jupiters-icy-ocean-moon\/?rand=772280\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Watch a video about Europa Clipper. Our fall fund-raiser is going on now. Please help EarthSky keep going. Donate to EarthSky today! Meet Europa Clipper Europa Clipper is NASA\u2019s mission… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":790102,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-790101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-sky"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=790101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/790102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=790101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=790101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=790101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}