Why is NASA's Clipper mission important to mankind?
September 20, 20243 Mins Read
Soon, the American space research agency NASA will conduct a mission to Jupiter's moon Europa. If all goes well, the Clipper spacecraft will be launched on Thursday, October 10. This information was announced in an announcement from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on September 17.

NASA's Clipper mission

Gina DiBrasio, acting director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, said, 'The new places we have the opportunity to go to have never been explored in depth before. Europa is about the size of our moon. But we believe, there is a lot of water in the form of ice. Europa has at least twice as much water as Earth's oceans. There may be life there.'

Whether or not there is life on Europa remains to be seen. Even if the Clipper mission is launched next October, it will take 5 years to reach Europa. The spacecraft will reach its destination in April 2030. However, the spacecraft will not land on Europa, but instead orbit the moon. In the language of science it is called flyby. It will do whatever it takes to experiment as it moves around. At this time, the spacecraft will use advanced technology radar and various technologies to collect data. The spacecraft will orbit Europa a total of 49 times.

One thing needs to be said here. The mission will not directly search for life on Europa. Rather, it will be investigated whether there are elements necessary for sustaining life or not. If such material is found, a spacecraft may land on Europa in the future.

It should be noted that scientists have confirmed so far about the total of 95 moons of Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system. But there are many more such moons. As the technology improves in the future, they will be recognized. Of these 95 moons, Europa is the fourth largest. NASA is conducting missions to Europa because of the possibility of ice beneath its surface.

You can imagine how NASA confirmed the ice in Europa. Is it just speculation, or is there any evidence? In fact, this is NASA's first mission to Europa, but before that Voyager 1 and 2 have passed by these planets and satellites outside the solar system. In addition, NASA conducted the Pioneer 10 and 11 missions in 1972 and 1973. Both missions orbit Jupiter. These spacecraft then took some pictures of Europa. Analyzing those images confirmed the existence of ice a long time ago. Now the Clipper mission is specifically going to Europa.

It is one of NASA's largest missions. The spacecraft is about 100 feet wide. Bigger than a basketball court. The spacecraft has huge solar panels to capture sunlight. Because Jupiter is very far from the Sun. Sunlight reaches less that far. So the solar panel has to be enlarged. With the help of this solar energy, the spacecraft will be powered. In addition, the spacecraft has thick-walled titanium and aluminum vaults. These will help to withstand the intense radiation around Jupiter.

Now just waiting for the launch of the spacecraft. The launch date has been fixed several times before, but it has been delayed due to various reasons. Let's see if NASA can successfully launch the spacecraft on October 10.