At 00:06 a.m. Beijing time on Tuesday, the Falcon Heavy rocket of the U.S. Space Exploration Technology Company (SpaceX) took off from the Kennedy Space Center and successfully launched NASA's interstellar probe "Europa Clipper" into the sky.


(Source: NASA Live)

As the first probe launched by NASA to Jupiter in more than ten years, this US$5.2 billion project is not studying Jupiter, but a satellite called "Europa". The surface of this moon of Jupiter is covered with a thick shell of ice.Current research points to a "salty ocean" under the ice shell, which is also regarded as the most promising place in the solar system (except Earth) for the survival of life.


As the largest interstellar probe in NASA's history, Europa Clipper has a take-off weight of 12,500 pounds, half of which is propellant. When fully deployed, the probe's solar panels can reach a length of 100 feet, which is longer than a standard basketball court.


(Source: NASA)

After hitting the road today,The probe will need to fly 5 and a half years and 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) to reach Jupiter. Current expectations are that the probe will enter Jupiter's orbit on April 11, 2030. Subsequently, in 4 years, 49 flybys of the target satellite will be carried out, with the closest distance being only 25 kilometers. The nine instruments carried by the probe will completely map the planet, including identifying compounds on the ice and measuring the depth of the ocean.

It is reported that after the "Europa Clipper" arrives, it will also welcome the European Space Agency's "colleague" - the "Juice" Jupiter probe. Also the largest probe of the European Space Agency, "Juice" will hit the road in April 2023 and is expected to reach its target in July 2031. At that time, the two detectors will cooperate on site.

As the end point of the "Europa Clipper", it is currently expected that the probe may choose to impact Jupiter's largest moon "Ganymede" after completing its mission, but this arrangement has not yet been finalized.

Why go to that place?

It is reported that the main mission of the "Europa Clipper" is to use a series of instruments to observe the satellite of Jupiter.Explore whether life is suitable for existence on another ocean planet in the solar system.

Europa is smaller than the Moon and has a smooth surface covered with ice, which means that water under the ice regularly breaks through the ice and bursts to the surface and freezes, filling craters on the surface. Hubble has previously observed that the satellite occasionally has plumes that appear to be eruptions of water vapor erupting from the surface of the sphere.

Scientists currently speculate thatThe amount of ocean water on Europa may be twice that of the entire Earth.

"Europa Clipper" project scientist Robert Pappalardo said: "I think Europa is far and away the most likely place in our solar system beyond Earth for life to exist, the most likely place to have the ingredients for life in abundance and enough time for life to begin to develop. "

During the flyby, a baguette-shaped tube on the probe will attempt to collect and identify molecules, including the carbon-based molecules that may make up life. If you are lucky enough, the detector may also have the opportunity to fly through the eruption plume and directly collect material information about the ocean under the ice.

In addition, the probe also carries cameras, spectrometers, thermal imagers, ice-penetrating radar, magnetometers and other sensors to collect all information about the interior and exterior of the planet.