SpaceX has won a huge NASA contract that will enable the company to launch an orbiter to one of Jupiter’s icy moons – Europa. The company will be using its Falcon Heavy rocket for the mission that is set to kick off on October 2024. The contract is said to be valued at $178 million.
The mission will be exciting for space enthusiasts for many reasons. For one, it will involve SpaceX leveraging its triple-booster Falcon Heavy. It is also the most powerful rocket currently in operation and will take off for only the fourth time in what promises to be a spectacle.
2030 will see the launch
The mission will allow the space agency to have its best look at Europa, offering astronomers back on Earth with potentially compelling data from one of Jupiter’s many moons. When the spacecraft reaches the moon in 2030, the Europa Clipper orbiter will carry out a detailed study of the moon with the aid of scientific instruments aboard.
“Key mission objectives are to produce high-resolution images of Europa’s surface, determine its composition, look for signs of recent or ongoing geological activity, measure the thickness of the moon’s icy shell, search for subsurface lakes, and determine the depth and salinity of Europa’s ocean,” NASA said while announcing SpaceX’s selection.
Europa capable of fostering life?
Europa is the sixth-largest moon in our solar system and is believed to have the potential to foster life. The spacecraft won’t land on the moon but will perform flybys to get close enough to gather required data that could answer many questions related to the moon’s origin.
It has been more than 20 years since NASA’s Galileo mission and the same data is used by scientists to learn about Europa until now. Before Europa Clipper’s launch, the ESA is planning to send a spacecraft to Jupiter’s another moon – Ganymede in a mission that will involve two flybys of Europa as well.
NASA’s Juno probe recently made its first close flyby of Jupiter’s biggest moon Ganymede. It is the first time such close-up shots of the moon were captured in 20 years.
