{"id":113477,"date":"2024-10-13T00:07:47","date_gmt":"2024-10-12T17:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=113477"},"modified":"2024-10-13T00:07:47","modified_gmt":"2024-10-12T17:07:47","slug":"nasas-europa-clipper-spacecraft-will-scour-jupiter-moon-for-the-ingredients-for-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=113477","title":{"rendered":"NASA&#8217;s Europa Clipper spacecraft will scour Jupiter moon for the ingredients for life"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) \u2014 A <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/jupiter-europa-clipper-nasa-d5b5a724b1802c601400e6d38fef06dd\">NASA spacecraft<\/a><\/span> is ready to set sail for Jupiter and its <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/astronomy-space-exploration-science-business-jupiter-910a2cfff7501e45e3e167c4b22cc428\">moon Europa<\/a><\/span>, one of the best bets for finding life beyond Earth.<\/p>\n<p>Europa Clipper will peer beneath the <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/88e5387a194104711f4be663b7dd6e31\">moon\u2019s icy crust<\/a><\/span> where an ocean is thought to be sloshing fairly close to the surface. It won\u2019t search for life, but rather determine whether conditions there could support it. Another mission would be needed to flush out any microorganisms lurking there.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a chance for us to explore not a world that might have been habitable billions of years ago, but a world that might be habitable today \u2014 right now,\u201d said program scientist Curt Niebur.<\/p>\n<p>Its massive solar panels make Clipper the biggest craft built by NASA to investigate another planet. It will take 5 1\/2 years to reach Jupiter and will sneak within 16 miles (25 kilometers) of Europa\u2019s surface \u2014 considerably closer than any other spacecraft.<\/p>\n<p>Liftoff is targeted for this month aboard SpaceX\u2019s Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center. Mission cost: $5.2 billion.<\/p>\n<h2>Europa, the superstar among Jupiter\u2019s many moons<\/h2>\n<p>One of Jupiter\u2019s 95 known moons, Europa is almost the size of our own moon. It\u2019s encased in an ice sheet estimated to be 10 miles to 15 miles or more (15 kilometers to 24 kilometers) thick. Scientists believe this frozen crust hides an ocean that could be 80 miles (120 kilometers) or more deep. The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted what appear to be geysers erupting from the surface. Discovered by Galileo in 1610, Europa is one of the four so-called Galilean moons of Jupiter, along with Ganymede, Io and Callisto.<\/p>\n<h2>Seeking conditions that support life<\/h2>\n<p>What type of life might Europa harbor? Besides water, organic compounds are needed for life as we know it, plus an energy source. In Europa\u2019s case that could be thermal vents on the ocean floor. Deputy project scientist Bonnie Buratti imagines any life would be primitive like the bacterial life that originated in Earth\u2019s deep ocean vents. \u201cWe will not know from this mission because we can\u2019t see that deep,\u201d she said. Unlike missions to Mars where habitability is one of many questions, Clipper\u2019s sole job is to establish whether the moon could support life in its ocean or possibly in any pockets of water in the ice. <\/p>\n<h2>Supersized spacecraft <\/h2>\n<p>When its solar wings and antennas are unfurled, Clipper is about the size of a basketball court \u2014 more than 100 feet (30 meters) end to end \u2014 and weighs nearly 13,000 pounds (6,000 kilograms). The supersized solar panels are needed because of Jupiter\u2019s distance from the sun. The main body \u2014 about the size of a camper \u2014 is packed with nine science instruments, including radar that will penetrate the ice, cameras that will map virtually the entire moon and tools to tease out the contents of Europa\u2019s surface and tenuous atmosphere. The name hearkens to the swift sailing ships of centuries past.<\/p>\n<h2>Circling Jupiter to fly by Europa<\/h2>\n<p>The roundabout trip to Jupiter will span 1.8 billion miles (3 billion kilometers). For extra oomph, the spacecraft will swing past Mars early next year and then Earth in late 2026. It arrives at Jupiter in 2030 and begins science work the next year. While orbiting Jupiter, it will cross paths with Europa 49 times. The mission ends in 2034 with a planned crash into Ganymede \u2014 Jupiter\u2019s biggest moon and the solar system\u2019s too.<\/p>\n<h2>Europa flybys pose huge radiation risk<\/h2>\n<p>There\u2019s more radiation around Jupiter than anywhere else in our solar system, besides the sun. Europa passes through Jupiter\u2019s bands of radiation as it orbits the gas giant, making it especially menacing for spacecraft. That\u2019s why Clipper\u2019s electronics are inside a vault with dense aluminum and zinc walls. All this radiation would nix any life on Europa\u2019s surface. But it could break down water molecules and, perhaps, release oxygen all the way down into the ocean that could possibly fuel sea life. <\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, NASA was in a panic that the spacecraft\u2019s many transistors might not withstand the intense radiation. But after months of analysis, engineers concluded the mission could proceed as planned.<\/p>\n<h2>Other visitors to Jupiter and Europa<\/h2>\n<p>NASA\u2019s twin Pioneer spacecraft and then two Voyagers swept past Jupiter in the 1970s. The Voyagers provided the first detailed photos of Europa but from quite a distance. NASA\u2019s Galileo spacecraft had repeated flybys of the moon during the 1990s, passing as close as 124 miles (200 kilometers). Still in action around Jupiter, NASA\u2019s Juno spacecraft has added to Europa\u2019s photo album. Arriving at Jupiter a year after Clipper will be the European Space Agency\u2019s Juice spacecraft, launched last year.<\/p>\n<h2>Ganymede and other possible ocean worlds<\/h2>\n<p>Like Europa, Jupiter\u2019s jumbo moon Ganymede is thought to host an underground ocean. But its frozen shell is much thicker \u2014 possibly 100 miles (160 kilometers) thick \u2014 making it tougher to probe the environment below. Callisto\u2019s ice sheet may be even thicker, possibly hiding an ocean. Saturn\u2019s moon Enceladus has geysers shooting up, but it\u2019s much farther than Jupiter. Ditto for Saturn\u2019s moon Titan, also suspected of having a subterranean sea. While no ocean worlds have been confirmed beyond our solar system, scientists believe they\u2019re out there \u2014 and may even be relatively common.<\/p>\n<h2>Messages in a cosmic bottle<\/h2>\n<p>Like many robotic explorers before it, Clipper bears messages from Earth. Attached to the electronics vault is a triangular metal plate. On one side is a design labeled \u201cwater words\u201d with representations of the word for water in 104 languages. On the opposite side: a poem about the moon by U.S. poet laureate Ada Limon and a silicon chip containing the names of 2.6 million people who signed up to vicariously ride along.<\/p>\n<h2>___<\/h2>\n<p>The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script>\n  window.fbAsyncInit = function() {\n      FB.init({\n              appId : '870613919693099',\n          xfbml : true,\n          version : 'v2.9'\n      });\n  };\n  (function(d, s, id){\n     var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n     if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}\n     js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\n     js.src = \"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\";\n     fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n   }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/nasa-europa-clipper-jupiter-f2a8f35f807f18eba447b518c289a552\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) \u2014 A NASA spacecraft is ready to set sail for Jupiter and its moon Europa, one of the best bets for finding life beyond Earth. Europa &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=113477\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8628],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=113477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113477\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=113477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=113477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=113477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}