Europa Clipper

 

Today I will be telling you about a mission called Europa a Clipper.

Mission

The main goal of the mission is to find whether there could be life under the surface of Europa. Mission will launch on October 2024 and arrive to Jupiter on 2030. The mission will end on 2034 after completing 20 flybys as close as 25 kilometres (2.5 times higher than a plane) to scan the entire moon.

Spacecraft

Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft ever developed by NASA. Since it has to travel so far, it has an array of solar panels which is 27 metres wide when deployed. All electronics are shielded in a titanium and aluminium vault to protect them from Jupiter's radiation.

Destination

Europa is one of the four moons discovered by Galileo. Europa is the second closest moon to Jupiter in between Io and Ganymede. Io is the most volcanic body in our solar system. Europa has the biggest ocean in the solar system and Ganymede is the biggest moon in the solar system.

Joining the mission

You can put your name on board at the NASA website, Join Now!