NASA spacecraft launches on a 5 1/2-year journey to Jupiter's moon Europa

NASA spacecraft launches on a 5 1/2-year journey to Jupiter's moon Europa. According to the space agency, the mission is to determine if the moon has the right condition to sustain life. The Europa Clipper spacecraft, which was launched on Monday will slip into Jupitur's orbit and take dozens of scans of the planet as it rotates by.

Scientists at NASA have expressed their certainty that the moon possesses deep, global oceans beneath the icy crust. It should be noted however that the Clipper is not equipped to detect life. Instead, the machine will use it's technology to zero in on the ingredients necessary to sustain life and search for organic compounds as well as other clues which could mean that it could sustain a population.

“Ocean worlds like Europa are not only unique because they might be habitable, but they might be habitable today,” NASA’s Gina DiBraccio said just prior to the launch. The unique rocket was launched from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. According to prior reports, the $5.2 billion mission was reportedly almost scrapped due to a fault in the shuttle's transistors.

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Reports indicate that NASA didn't realize that the Clipper's transistor might have been more vulnerable to Jupiter's intense radiation until Spring of 2024. To put it into layman's terms, the ship will endure the equivalent of several million chest X-rays during each of the 49 Europa flybys. After spending months looking into the problem, experts stated in September that the mission could go on as planned.

However, NASA experienced another hiccup when they were forced to delay the launch by several days due to the arrival of Hurricane Milton which barreled through central Flordia leaving tons of damage in its wake. Scientists have stated that on its way to the gas giant, the basketball court-sized ship will swing past both Earth and Mars for gravity assistance. Should everything go according to schedule, the shuttle should reach Jupiter by 2030.

Once in place, the Clipper will orbit Jupiter every 21 days with one of those days bringing it close to Europa, which will allow it to scan the planet, which is about the size of our own moon. Europa is also one of 95 confirmed celestial masses orbiting Jupiter. Scientists state that during it's time around the moon. the Clipper will skim as low as 16 miles the space mass while onboard radar will attempt to penetrate the moon’s ice sheet, believed to be 10 miles to 15 miles or more thick.

NASA experts have stated they believe that the alleged ocean could be 80 miles below the surface. The Clipper is also equipped with eight other instruments that are encased in dense zinc and aluminum walls for protection against radiation. The exploration of the planet is slated to last until 2034.

Scientists are hopeful that if the scans do show favorable conditions for life, there will be other expeditions to other ocean worlds within our solar system and beyond. Scientists have indicated that they have been eyeing Saturn's moon Enceladus as another possible candidate.