NASA’s bold mission to reach Jupiter’s ocean moon Europa is now supported by SpaceX.
The news that SpaceX will offer NASA a rocket ride to the moon Europa emerged recently. If all goes by the plan, the $4.25 billion Europa Clipper spacecraft will launch in October 2024.
Here is what you need to know.
A Trip to Moon Europa: Now a Reality
The Europa Clipper spacecraft will ride to space on a commercial rocket by SpaceX. According to NASA, the trip to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa will be more circuitous with a Falcon Heavy launch than it would have been with an SLS.
Costs and delays have halted any development of SLS over the years. The rocket still hasn’t flown, and NASA confirmed that the rocket’s first mission would be for the Artemis program of lunar exploration.
SLS would have taken Clipper to Jupiter on a direct trajectory, reaching the planet’s surface in almost 3 years after launch. To bad that we don’t see it happen.
SpaceX’s rocket
Using a commercial rocket will make Clipper do some speed-boosting flybys of Mars and Earth in 2025 and 2026, as per NASA’s statements.
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, for example, has flown 3 times already, most recently in June 2019 via a mission for the US Space Test Program.
The news that SpaceX will support NASA’s mission to Jupiter’s moon. Europa is genuinely fantastic, and we couldn’t wait to witness the big event.
Clipper’s Mission Details
Jupiter’s icy moon Europa has a vast ocean of liquid water underneath it and is considered one of the Solar System’s greatest best to host alien life.
NASA’s Clipper spacecraft will have to examine that ocean and its ice shell and search for any safe areas to land a life-explorer craft. The lander would then begin a mission of exploration, as well, scouring the moon’s surface, looking for any signs that could hold life.