The Europa Clipper is a massive spacecraft made by NASA for a mission to Jupiter’s moon, Europa. It will travel a super long distance of 1.8 billion miles from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Europa. The spacecraft will go around Jupiter and fly by Europa many times to study the moon. The launch period for Europa Clipper starts on Thursday, October 10. Europa is a really cool place to look for signs of life beyond Earth.
How Long Will it Take?
Jupiter is about 480 million miles from Earth on average. Both planets are moving, and a spacecraft can only carry a limited amount of fuel. Mission planners will use the gravity of Mars and Earth to help Europa Clipper go faster. After traveling about 1.8 billion miles over 5½ years, the spacecraft will fire its engines to go into orbit around Jupiter in 2030.
Related Stories:
- https://science.nasa.gov/jupiter/moons/europa
- https://europa.nasa.gov
- https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/europa-clipper/
- https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/17/science/nasa-europa-clipper-radiation.html
- https://www.npr.org/2024/09/17/nx-s1-5114450/nasa-probe-launch-icy-moon-jupiter-life
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