Europa Clipper Launch: NASA Spacecraft Blasts Off In Search Of Life-Supporting Conditions On Jupiter's Icy Moon

Europa Clipper Launch: A NASA spacecraft designed to examine any possible life-supporting conditions on Jupiter's moon Europa blasted off from US's Florida on Monday. The 'Europa Clipper' blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket under sunny skies. The robotic solar-powered probe is due to enter orbit around Jupiter in 2030 after journeying about 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion km) in 5-1/2 years.

The launch had been planned for last week but was put off because of Hurricane Milton. At about 100 feet (30.5 meters) long and about 58 feet (17.6 meters) wide with its antennas and solar arrays fully deployed - bigger than a basketball court - the 'Europa Clipper' is the largest spacecraft ever built by NASA. It weighs approximately 6,000 kg.

Even though Europa, the fourth-largest of Jupiter's 95 officially recognized moons, is just a quarter of Earth's diameter, its vast global ocean of salty liquid water may contain twice the water in Earth's oceans.

Earth's oceans are thought to have been the birthplace for life on our planet. Europa, whose diameter of roughly 1,940 miles (3,100 km) is approximately 90% that of our moon, has been viewed as a potential habitat for life beyond Earth in our solar system. Its icy shell is believed to be 10-15 miles (15-25 km) thick, sitting atop an ocean 40-100 miles (60-150 km) deep.

NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free told a prelaunch briefing on Sunday that Europa boasts one of the most promising environments for potential habitability in our solar system, beyond Earth, though he noted that this mission will not be a search for any actual living organisms. "What we discover on Europa," Free said, "will have profound implications for the study of astrobiology and how we view our place in the universe."

(With inputs from Reuters)