NASA, SpaceX launch new mission to study Jupiter’s moon Europa

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) — NASA and SpaceX launched a new mission to Jupiter on Monday to study Jupiter’s moon Europa.
The Europa Clipper spacecraft, which is NASA’s largest planetary spacecraft, launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at 12:06 p.m. Eastern Time from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in the U.S. state of Florida.
Europa Clipper is the first mission designed to conduct a detailed study of Jupiter’s moon Europa.
The spacecraft will travel about 2.9 billion kilometers to reach Jupiter in April 2030. It will orbit Jupiter, and conduct 49 close flybys of Europa, according to NASA.
The mission aims to understand the nature of Europa’s 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, said NASA. ■