NASA is gearing up to launch its largest-ever planetary spacecraft on October 10, the Europa Clipper, to study Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. Measuring approximately 5 meters tall and over 30.5 meters wide with its arrays fully extended, the spacecraft has a dry mass of 3,241 kg without fuel. Equipped with giant solar panels to capture sunlight at Jupiter, Europa Clipper is a long-term investment and quest for humanity.
The mission, which will arrive at Jupiter in 2030, aims to study Europa’s ice shell, ocean beneath it, composition, and geology to search for conditions for life beyond Earth. By doing flybys of Europa and being in orbit around Jupiter, the spacecraft will cover different regions of the moon for nearly complete mapping.
In an added touch of culture to the scientific mission, US poet laureate Ada Limón has written a poem titled “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa” that will travel on board the Europa Clipper. This poem, dedicated to NASA’s mission, is part of the agency’s “Message In a Bottle Campaign”.
With scientists dreaming about this mission for over 20 years and working on it for a decade, the Europa Clipper represents a generational quest for understanding and exploring the unknown. Laurie Leshin, director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, describes the mission as a “modern cathedral”, emphasizing the significance of such long-term goals for humanity’s exploration of the solar system.
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