NASA launches spacecraft to study whether Jupiter's moon Europa can harbor life
NASA launched a spacecraft on Monday, October 14, to Jupiter's moon Europa, considered one of our solar system's most promising spots to search for life beyond Earth. NASA says the mission aims to learn whether the ice-encased world, believed to harbor a vast underground ocean, is habitable.
The US space agency's robotic solar-powered Europa Clipper spacecraft launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, carrying nine scientific instruments. After traveling 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion km) in a trip lasting about 5-1/2 years, Europa Clipper is due to enter orbit around Jupiter in 2030.
Scientists have a keen interest in the salty liquid water ocean that previous observations have indicated resides below Europa's icy shell.
Europa Clipper is the biggest spacecraft NASA has ever built for a planetary mission, measuring about 100 feet (30.5 meters) long, about 58 feet (17.6 meters) wide and weighing approximately 13,000 pounds (6,000 kg). It is larger than a basketball court because of its sizable solar arrays to gather sunlight for powering scientific instruments, electronics and its other subsystems.
NASA/REUTERS VIDEO
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NASA launched a spacecraft on Monday, October 14, to Jupiter's moon Europa, considered one of our solar system's most promising spots to search for life beyond Earth. NASA says the mission aims to learn whether the ice-encased world, believed to harbor a vast underground ocean, is habitable.
The US space agency's robotic solar-powered Europa Clipper spacecraft launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, carrying nine scientific instruments. After traveling 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion km) in a trip lasting about 5-1/2 years, Europa Clipper is due to enter orbit around Jupiter in 2030.
Scientists have a keen interest in the salty liquid water ocean that previous observations have indicated resides below Europa's icy shell.
Europa Clipper is the biggest spacecraft NASA has ever built for a planetary mission, measuring about 100 feet (30.5 meters) long, about 58 feet (17.6 meters) wide and weighing approximately 13,000 pounds (6,000 kg). It is larger than a basketball court because of its sizable solar arrays to gather sunlight for powering scientific instruments, electronics and its other subsystems.
NASA/REUTERS VIDEO
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NewsTranscript
00:005, 4, 3, 2, 1, ignition and liftoff, liftoff of the Falcon Heavy with Europa Clipper
00:12unveiling the mysteries of an enormous ocean lurking beneath the icy crust of Jupiter's moon Europa.
00:19Engine chamber pressures are nominal.
00:22Engine chamber pressures are nominal.
00:26Engines look great.
00:28Rocket beginning to roll.
00:31Putting down 5.1 million pounds of thrust.
00:42Coming up, they're going to back off those engines just a bit.
00:49Getting ready to head into maximum.
00:52Power and telemetry nominal.
00:54We can hear the power and telemetry on the vehicle are good there.
00:56Everything's looking real good.
00:58Falcon Heavy is supersonic.
01:03They have reduced power in the center core to get through maximum max Q, maximum dynamic pressure,
01:09on the launch vehicle as we approach that.
01:11The two side boosters are at full throttle.
01:16A beautiful shot there is our camera team.
01:23Max Q.
01:24Locking into the rocket on a clear blue sky.
01:28The view from the booster cam back down on Earth.
01:31And there we heard the call for max Q.
01:33The vehicle is passing through maximum dynamic pressure.
01:36Next thing up in about two minutes will be booster engine cutoff where we see the two side booster engines,
01:42all 18, shut down and get ready for booster separation.
01:45But the vehicle is performing very well.
01:48Looking at all the telemetry that we have, power and trajectory are nominal.
01:54We've been flying for just under two minutes so far.
01:57Everything looking good.
02:00And stage separation from the center core.
02:03Getting ready for MVAC startup, SES-1.
02:08We're getting some applause here in the mission director's center.
02:11And there you see the MVAC-D engine lighting up.
02:16Next thing up in about 10 seconds will be fairing separation.
02:21And the fairing is protected, Europa Clipper, on its ascent up into space.
02:25But once we get into space, we don't need that fairing anymore.
02:31Fairing is separated and those will be recovered, Darrell, by SpaceX's own recovery ship, GO Cosmos.
02:46NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology