SpaceX lands NASA Launch Agreement for its mission to Europa

NASA has chosen SpaceX to launch its next alien-hunting mission to Jupiter moon. The Europa Clipper mission has scheduled to launch in October 2024.

• NASA has awarded SpaceX a $178 million contract to launch a spacecraft to Jupiter’s moon Europa.
• The Europa Clipper aims to explore signs of aquatic alien life in Europa’s vast below-the-ground ocean.
• The mission is now set to launch aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket in October 2024.

Elon Musk’s private rocket company SpaceX is presenting $178 million (roughly Rs. 1,324.80 crores).

It will launch a services contract for NASA’s first mission focusing on Jupiter’s icy moon Europa.

The mission, known as  Europa Clipper, will fly past Jupiter’s moon Europa 45 times. Getting as close as 16 miles beyond its surface.

Scientists believe the moon conceals a global ocean beneath its icy crust. Therefore an alien life could thrive deep within it.

NASA announced Friday that it set a date for the mission. It has also awarded the $178 million launch contract to SpaceX.

The Spacecraft

Now Europa Clipper will schedule to blast off. It is scheduled to be aboard the company’s Falcon Heavy rocket in October 2024.

The spacecraft can even fly through plumes of water vapour through Europa’s ice. Since those are known to crest more than 100 miles above the surface.

This water seems to come from the ocean below, hence it could also contain signs of life.

The reason Europa can keep water in a liquid state is that it follows an oval-shaped orbit around Jupiter.

The giant planet’s gravity:

• stretches and relaxes the moon, and
• that friction warms Europa’s deep underground saltwater, keeping it liquid.

The heat from that process could also let the moon harbour deep-sea ecosystems.

SpaceX detailed survey

NASA did not say what different companies may have bid on the Europa Clipper launch contract. The probe is to conduct a detailed survey of the ice-covered Jovian satellite.

Also, it is a bit smaller than Earth’s moon. The leading candidate in the search for life elsewhere in the solar system.

Europa Clipper’s main objectives are to:

• to produce high-resolution images of Europa’s surface
• determine its composition
• look for signs of geologic activity
• calculate the consistency of its icy shell and
• to determine the depth and salinity of its ocean, that’s what NASA said