Yahoo News NASA unveils probe bound for Jupiter's moon Europa to hunt for ‘conditions for life’
US space scientists on Thursday unveiled the interplanetary probe NASA plans to send to one of Jupiter’s icy moons as part of humanity’s hunt for extra-terrestrial life.
The Clipper spacecraft is due to blast off in October bound for Europa, one of dozens of moons orbiting the Solar System’s biggest planet, and the nearest spot in our celestial neighborhood that could offer a perch for life.
“One of the fundamental questions that NASA wants to understand is, are we alone in the cosmos?” Bob Pappalardo, the mission’s project scientist told AFP.
“If we were to find the conditions for life, and then someday actually find life in a place like Europa, then that would say in our own solar system there are two examples of life: Earth and Europa.
“That would be huge for understanding how common life might be throughout the universe.”
The $5 billion probe is currently at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, sitting in a “clean room”—a sealed area only accessible to people wearing head-to-toe covering.
The precautions are to ensure the probe remains free of contaminants to avoid transporting Earthly microbes to Europa.
After transport to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Clipper is set to launch aboard a Space X Falcon Heavy rocket and begin an over-five-year journey that involves a pass by Mars to pick up speed.
Read more on FRANCE 24 English
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