Stargazing: Mission to study potentially habitable moon of Jupiter

Julie Silverman / Carnegie Science Center

NASA’s long-awaited Europa Clipper will see its first window for launch on Thursday, when it will begin a mission to observe a celestial body that might be capable of supporting life.

Jupiter’s four largest moons — Europa being the fourth largest — are called the Galilean moons, named for the famed Italian astronomer credited with launching observation of the heavens with a telescope, Galileo Galilei.

Europa’s icy surface is believed to conceal an enormous ocean larger than any on Earth that may contain a habitable environment for life as we know it. Under the frozen shell, there may be chemical ingredients needed for life’s building blocks. Combined with energy from Jupiter and stable conditions, it’s possible an ecosystem might thrive there.

To find out, the Europa Clipper will soar over almost every part of the moon, aiming to make nearly 50 flybys at different altitudes.

But the delicate instruments are vulnerable to the radiation of Jupiter’s massive magnetic field. Europa is actually more radioactively dangerous than Jupiter, so the spacecraft will orbit the giant planet between daring dives toward the moon.

The Clipper’s electronics and sensitive instruments are housed in a radiation vault for protection. Titanium and aluminum walls will shield data collection through the danger zones in a technique pioneered by NASA’s Juno mission.

With the launch of the Europa Clipper, NASA’s next steps may find a habitable world beyond our own.

Its expected 2030 arrival date will open 3½ years of exciting observations.