NASA's Europa Clipper Begins Journey to Jupiter's Ocean Moon
Read the full article for context, quotes, and updates from the team.
NASA’s Europa Clipper successfully launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center on October 14, 2024, beginning a landmark mission to investigate one of the solar system’s most intriguing worlds. The spacecraft is headed for Europa, Jupiter’s icy moon, which scientists believe may harbor a vast subsurface ocean beneath its frozen crust.
Over the course of its journey and planned four-year science campaign, Europa Clipper will conduct dozens of close flybys of the moon, using a suite of advanced instruments to analyze its surface, measure its ice shell, and search for clues about the ocean below. Researchers hope the mission will help determine whether Europa has the chemical ingredients and energy sources needed to support life.
The launch marks a major achievement for NASA and its partners, advancing planetary science and astrobiology with a mission years in the making. If successful, Europa Clipper could transform understanding of ocean worlds and sharpen the search for habitable environments beyond Earth.
