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NASA's Europa Clipper Blasts Off To Jupiter And Europa. NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft has begun its long journey to Jupiter, where it will study Europa, one of the planet's moons believed to contain a vast subsurface ocean that may harbour conditions suitable for life, by blasting off on Monday (14October2024). The spacecraft was launched at 17:06 BST on Monday aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft ever built by NASA for a mission to another planet and the first NASA mission specifically dedicated to studying an ocean world beyond Earth. The spacecraft will cover 2.9 billion kilometres (1.8 billion miles), utilising gravity assists to reach its destination, first passing Mars in four months, then returning to Earth for another flyby in 2026. It will begin orbiting Jupiter in April 2030 and is scheduled to make 49 close flybys of Europa. The primary goal of Europa Clipper is to assess whether Europa could support life. Similar in size to Earth's Moon, Europa has a vastly different interior as beneath its icy surface lies a deep, salty ocean containing more water than all of Earth's combined. There is also evidence that Europa might possess organic compounds and energy sources essential for life. If the mission confirms Europa's habitability, it could indicate that there are far more worlds in our solar system and beyond, capable of supporting life than previously thought.
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