NASA has planned to sent its largest planetary spacecraft called Europa Clipper on October 10 to explore the icy moon of Jupiter, Europa. Measuring around 5 meters in height, and about 30.5 meters with the solar panels deployed, this behemoth spacecraft measures about 3,241 kg dry.
Built to facilitate solar power with very limited light around Jupiter, five times farther than the Earth, the Europa Clipper has made up of the largest planetary spacecraft by NASA. This mission has been in the pipe for over two decades, and is still considered an important development for the space society.
Anticipated to arriv at Jupiter in 2030 the Europa Clipper space mission’s objective is to discover what lies underneath Europa’s crusted over surface. There are believed to be an ocean underneath the ice surface of this moon and the mission to Europa will be to assess the possibility of life in the satellite. In more detail, the spacecraft will learn about the composition and thickness of the ice, the characteristics of the underground ocean and other features of the geology and shape of the moon of Jupiter.
The Europa Clipper will not orbit around Europa but will orbit Jupiter although making 49 close approaches to Europa. These passes will get as close as 25 km to the surface of Europa; will image different areas on Europa’s surface; and will gather full hemisphere maps of this fascinating moon.
Adding a unique cultural element to the mission, US poet laureate Ada Limón has contributed a special poem titled “In Praise of Mystery: The poem will also be headed to Europa as part of the kit or message called “A Poem for Europa.” The following is poetic and it shows that people will always remain interested in space travel.
It is important for people to comprehend that every discovery by NASA humanity gets closer to the answer to whether there is life on other planets and Europa mission will act as a preparation for further exploring of other mysterious worlds of the solar system.
