The idea of extraterrestrial life excites everyone and NASA is no exception. Recently, it was revealed that the American space agency is setting up an independent commission to study the existence of Unidentified Flying Objects or UFOs. But to make things more interesting, NASA is also planning a mission to a celestial body within our own solar system where it believes that alien life can actually exist. And that body is none other than one of the Galilean moons of Jupiter, Europa. And taking on this mission will be NASA’s largest ever spacecraft ever developed for planetary missions – Europa Clipper. The mission is set for October 2024 and scientists have high hopes for it. Also read: NASA: Hubble Telescope reveals unknown facts about this LARGEST Comet!
According to NASA’s mission website, this also creates multiple milestones for the space agency. The website explains, “Europa Clipper will be only the third spacecraft to orbit the largest planet in our solar system, and the second spacecraft to run on solar power at Jupiter’s distance from the Sun. It will also be the first NASA mission to exclusively study a moon other than Earth’s Moon”.
Europa Clipper is a cylindrical spacecraft which is 10 feet tall and 5 feet wide and will be as large as an SUV. But it will weigh around 6,000 kilograms and 65% of its weight will be just the fuel. That is to be expected from a spacecraft that will take on a journey of around 2.9 billion kilometers long which will take it around 6 years to complete. The fuel will probably not last that long, and that’s why it also has solar panels which are 100-feet wide. For reference, it's larger than a basketball court. With the main body being completed, now only instrument fitting and various
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