NASA Completes Main Body of Europa Clipper Spacecraft – Will Search for Life on Jupiter’s Icy Moon Europa
Europa Jupiter’s icy moon, almost certainly has a vast ocean beneath its icy shell. In fact, scientists believe this ocean contains more water than all of Earth’s oceans combined. The complex chemistry required for life as we know it to exist requires liquid water, making this ocean one of the key reasons astrobiologists want to study Europa.
NASA’s Europa Clipper is expected to launch in 2024 and take several years to reach Jupiter. It will orbit the planet, during each flyby, it will scan the moon and then report the data back to Earth.
Standing 10 feet tall and 5 feet wide, it’s an aluminum cylinder integrated with electronics, radios, thermal loop tubing, cabling, and the propulsion system. With its solar arrays and other deployable equipment stowed for launch, Europa Clipper will be as large as an SUV; when extended, the solar arrays make the craft the size of a basketball court.
@thewonderofspace
