Tech Desk 
Oct 14, 2024
The Europa Clipper, one of NASA's largest spacecraft, is set to embark on a six-year journey to uncover potential life on Jupiter's moon, determining whether it has a life-supporting environment.
The mission is likely to launch at 12:06pm ET on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre situated in Florida.
Read more: SpaceX's Crew-8 astronauts delayed departure from ISS due to bad weather
Previously, NASA planned the launch of Europa Clipper on October 10 (Thursday) which was delayed due to uncertain weather conditions, as Hurricane Milton, a devastating tropical cyclone posed a great threat to Europa Clipper and disrupted other operations too including the Crew-8 mission.
Europa is diminutive to the so-called Galilean moons, Jupiter’s four largest and quite smaller than our moon. According to the scientists, it consists of a broader subsurface and this mission is specifically designed to explore whether life could exist over there or not.
The total length of Europa Clipper exceeds 30 metres while weighing approximately 3241 kilograms excluding propulsive material, but adding to it further will weigh it around 2750 kilograms. Additionally, it is planned to travel almost 2.9 billion kilometres.
