Europa Clipper Begins Journey to Jupiter’s Icy Moon
NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft launched in October 2024 on a mission to investigate whether Jupiter’s moon Europa could support life. The probe will make repeated flybys, using cameras, radar and other instruments to study the moon’s ice shell and the ocean believed to lie beneath it. Scientists say the mission is designed to assess Europa’s habitability, not to detect life directly. After a journey of about five and a half years, the spacecraft is expected to begin its observations in 2030.