On Thursday, US space scientists revealed the interplanetary probe that NASA intends to deploy to one of Jupiter’s cold moons as part of humanity’s search for extraterrestrial life. The Clipper spacecraft is scheduled to launch in October, heading for Europa, one of the many moons orbiting the Solar System’s largest planet and the nearest location in our cosmic neighborhood that could potentially support life.
The $5 billion probe is presently housed in a “clean room” at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California
“One of the fundamental questions that NASA wants to understand is, are we alone in the cosmos?” Bob Pappalardo, the mission’s project scientist, told AFP.
“If we were to find the conditions for life, and then someday actually find life in a place like Europa, then that would say in our own solar system there are two examples of life: Earth and Europa.
“That would be huge for understanding how common life might be throughout the universe.”
The $5 billion probe is presently housed in a “clean room” at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, where it can only be accessed by people wearing head-to-toe coverings.
It is expected to arrive in orbit around Jupiter and Europa by 2031
The safeguards are designed to keep the probe free of pollutants and avoid carrying earthly germs to Europa.
After being transported to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Clipper will launch aboard a Space X Falcon Heavy rocket and go on a five-year voyage that will include a flyby past Mars to gain speed.
It is expected to arrive in orbit around Jupiter and Europa by 2031, where it will begin a detailed study of the moon, which scientists believe is covered with frozen water.
“We have instruments like cameras, and spectrometers, a magnetometer, and a radar that can… penetrate right through ice, bounce off liquid water and back to the surface to tell us how thick the ice is and where liquid water is located,” Pappalardo said in a statement.
“If moons around planets far away from stars could hold life, then the number of opportunities around the solar system, around the universe, where life could take hold, I think, goes up dramatically,” said Jordan Evans, project manager for the Europa Clipper mission.
What are the challenges?
The science is difficult — a tremendous radiation field around Europa could damage the instruments, which will get the equivalent of 100,000 chest x-rays per circuit around the moon.
Due to the immense distances involved, when Clipper sends its data back, the signal will take 45 minutes to reach Mission Control.
And, despite its large solar array, which unfolds once in space, Evans predicted that keeping Clipper fueled would be a major task.
“Right after launch, (the solar panels are) putting out 23,000 watts… but when we’re out at Jupiter, so far away from the Sun, they’re only putting out 700 watts,” he said.
“Near Earth, they could power 20 houses continuously. And when we’re at Jupiter, just a few light bulbs and some small appliances.”
The mission, planning for which began in the late 1990s, is expected to end around 2034, when Clipper will have reached the final stage of its functional life.
According to deputy project manager Tim Larson, the probe will next make one final stop on Jupiter’s largest moon.
“After we’re done with the science mission, the way we end is by crashing into one of the other bodies in the Jovian system to dispose of the spacecraft,” he said.