NASA's Europa Clipper launches in search for 'ingredients of life' on Jupiter's icy moon

NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft launched at 12:06 p.m. Monday, beginning a nearly six-year, 1.8-billion-mile voyage to Jupiter, where it will study the frozen moon Europa, scanning below its ice-covered surface for conditions that could support life.

Why Europa? The distant, ice-covered moon shows "strong evidence" of an ocean of liquid water beneath its ice, NASA says. In that water could be "all the ingredients needed for life as we know it."

Hurricane Helene delayed the probe's originally scheduled Oct. 10 launch.

The uncrewed Europa Clipper will orbit Jupiter and perform nearly 50 flybys of Europa, some as close as 16 miles above its surface. The spacecraft is not looking for signs of life – instead, its searches will determine the nature and viability of the moon's underwater environment.

With a solar panel array as long as a basketball court, the $5 billion Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has built for a dedicated planetary mission.

Profile of the Europa Clipper

Can't see our graphics? Click here.

The spacecraft, which had been set to launch Thursday atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, has been delayed by the arrival of Hurricane Milton. It's expected to reach Jupiter in April 2030.

Europa Clipper is one of two probes being sent to study Europa. The second is the European Space Agency's Juice mission, which launched April 14, 2023. It will arrive at Jupiter in July 2031, a little more than a year after Europa Clipper.

Juice will study Jupiter, Europa and two other Jovian moons, Ganymede and Callisto.

Both spacecraft will limit their exposure to Jupiter's intense radiation belts that could damage onboard systems. NASA says Europa Clipper "will travel outside of Jupiter’s radiation belts to downlink data, uplink new commands, and prepare for the next flyby."

Where is Europa?

Jupiter has 95 officially recognized moons, NASA says, though the actual number is probably much higher. It's four largest moons are Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa. They are known as Galilean moons, named after Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei.

What's it like on Europa?

With a diameter of about 1,940 miles, Europa is roughly 10% smaller than Earth's moon.

Europa is a cold moon, with surface temperatures ranging from minus 210 to minus 370 degrees Fahrenheit, and it's covered in ice. Ice thickness estimates vary from 6 to 15 miles.

Researchers believe that below the ice lies an ocean of salty liquid water 40 to 100 miles deep.

That's a lot of water. Even though Europa is only one-fourth the diameter of Earth, "its ocean may contain twice as much water as Earth’s global ocean," NASA says. "Europa’s ocean is considered one of the most promising places in the solar system to look for life beyond Earth."

Europa is cold, but the water is liquid because of a phenomenon known as tidal flexing or kneading. In essence, Jupiter's gravity stretches and releases Europa's icy shell during the moon's elliptical orbit around the planet.

The moon orbits Jupiter every 3.5 days, and the constant friction creates enough heat to help keep the water liquid.

Europa also has a heated core, which may contain hydrothermal vents that spew heated matter into the moon's oceans.

What will Europa Clipper look for?

Europa Clipper won't land on Europa, but its nine scientific instruments will scan the moon for what NASA scientists call the three key ingredients for life:

• Liquid water. Water dissolves nutrients for organisms to consume, transports chemicals within living cells, supports metabolism, allows cells to get rid of waste.
• Chemical elements. They include carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur.
• Energy. On Europa, the energy for life would come from chemical reactions rather than photosynthesis, because sunlight does not penetrate the moon's ice.

Europa Clipper is one of several spacecraft to visit Europa. The others:

• 1973 | Pioneer 10: The first spacecraft to fly by Jupiter, Pioneer 10 photographed Jupiter, Europa and other moons.
• 1974 | Pioneer 11: Flew within 365,000 miles of Europa.
• 1979 | Voyager 1: Photographed Europa in March 1979.
• 1979 | Voyager 2: Photographed Europa in July 1979.
• 1997 | Galileo: Sent back readings that indicate subsurface ocean on Europa.
• 2001 | Cassini: Measured activity of Europa's thin atmosphere.
• 2007 | New Horizons: Photographed Europa.
• 2022 | Juno: Flew within 220 miles of Europa.

Source: Paste BN Network reporting and research; NASA; Jet Propulsion Laboratory; European Space Agency; space.com