SpaceX's Falcon Heavy launch vehicle successfully launched the Europa Clipper space station, which aims to study one of the most mysterious objects in our solar system — Jupiter's moon Europa.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the mission is to find out if there is life on Europa and if the satellite is suitable for life.
The unmanned spacecraft is named "Europa Clipper" after the ships that crossed the Earth's oceans hundreds of years ago. After traveling 1.8 billion miles, the spacecraft will enter orbit around Jupiter in 2030, where it will spend four years. "Europa Clipper" will help scientists assess whether Europa has the conditions necessary to support life.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration considers this moon, which is slightly smaller than Earth, to be one of the most promising places to look for life in our solar system.
Based on observations from previous missions, its icy crust floats on a subsurface ocean that contains more than twice as much water as all of Earth's oceans combined.
According to Curt Niebuhr, Europa Clipper mission scientist, Europa is the first documented oceanic world - a class of planets and moons with abundant liquid water.
Other nearby moons, such as Jupiter's Ganymede and Saturn's Enceladus, are also thought to be oceanic worlds, but Europa's ocean is most similar to Earth's, the researcher says.
