NASA launch life-searching spacecraft to Jupiter's moon Europa

By Alimat Aliyeva

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will launch a spacecraft to Jupiter's moon Europa in October 2024 in order to determine whether there are living conditions on it, Azernews reports.

The launch of the Europa Clipper mission is scheduled for October 10 from the Cape Canaveral Cosmodrome (Florida). A Falcon Heavy launch vehicle from the American company SpaceX will be used for the launch.

NASA stressed that the mission's objective is to "help scientists determine whether one of Jupiter's ice-covered natural moons can support life." It is expected that the device, equipped with nine instruments and equipment for conducting experiments in zero gravity, will be launched into Jupiter's orbit and will approach Europe several times.

"Research data indicate that under the ice cover of Europe there is an ocean twice the volume of all the oceans of the Earth," NASA said in a statement.

Europa is one of the four largest moons of Jupiter, discovered by Galileo Galilei back in the XVII century. Its surface is covered with ice, under which there is a multi-kilometer ocean of liquid water. Today, planetary scientists consider it one of the likely centers of extraterrestrial life. This is supported by the fact that this reservoir exchanges gases and minerals with ice on the surface, and also contains hydrogen and some other substances that can support the life of microbes.