Nasa’s Europa Clipper Mission to Explore Jupiter’s Moon

Why in the news?

Nasa launched the $5.2 billion Europa Clipper mission to explore Jupiter’s moon, Europa, in search of conditions that could support life, with arrival expected in 2030.

Nasa's Europa Clipper Mission to Explore Jupiter's Moon

About the Nasa’s Mission to Explore Jupiter’s Moon Europa:

  • Nasa launched a $5.2 billion Europa Clipper mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
  • The mission aims to explore Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, to investigate its potential for hosting life.
  • The solar-powered spacecraft, weighing 5,700 kilograms, is set to enter Jupiter’s orbit in 2030 after a9 billion-kilometre journey.

Mission Goals and Europa’s Potential for Life:

  • Europa Clipper will perform 50 flybys, getting as close as 7 kilometres to Europa’s surface.
  • Scientists believe that a massive ocean lies beneath Europa’s icy crust, which may contain more water than Earth.
  • The mission seeks to determine if conditions on Europa are suitable for life, as water is essential for most life forms.

What is the Europa Clipper Mission ?

  • Objective: Investigate the potential for life beneath Europa’s icy surface and study its ice layer and subsurface ocean.
  • Second Objective: Analyse Europa’s geology and structure.
  • Launch Vehicle: SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket.
  • Cost: $5 billion.
  • Features: Largest NASA spacecraft for a planetary mission; six-year journey to Jupiter; close flybys of Europa at 25 km altitude; gravitational assistance from Earth and Mars.
  • Mapping Tools: Equipped with advanced instruments, including ice-penetrating radar.
  • Solar Power: Powered by large solar arrays.
  • Significance: May reveal Europa’s potential to support life; considered a promising habitable environment beyond Earth.

Space Missions Planned for 2024:

  • Europa Clipper (NASA): Explore Jupiter’s moon, Europa, to investigate the potential for life beneath its icy surface.
  • Artemis II (NASA): Crewed lunar mission to orbit the Moon, part of NASA’s Artemis program.
  • VIPER (NASA): A robotic mission to search for water at the Moon’s south pole.
  • JAXA MMX: A Japanese mission to study Mars’ moons Phobos and Deimos.
  • Hera (ESA): Return mission to Didymos-Dimorphous to study asteroid properties post-DART
  • ISRO: Gaganyaan 1, Mangalyaan-2, Shukrayaan-1, and NASA-ISRO NISAR collaborations.

Sources Referred:

PIB, The Hindu, Indian Express, Hindustan Times