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Does Jupiter’s moon Europa support life? NASA mission aims to find out

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NASA is just weeks away from its first mission designed to explore Jupiter’s massive moon Europa. Ahead of the historic launch, the agency started releasing videos on Monday, Sept. 23, offering a behind-the-scenes look at what’s going into the Europa Clipper Mission.

NASA is highlighting the efforts of five engineers each week leading up to the launch window of mission, which is starts on Oct. 10. The engineers are working on the giant spacecraft that will explore Jupiter’s moon in search of a “global saltwater ocean beneath its icy shell.”

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The spacecraft will orbit Jupiter, and it will collect data with nine instruments and conduct an experiment using telecommunications to gather gravity data on the unforgiving radiation environment of Jupiter.

The length of a basketball court, the Europe Probe is the largest spacecraft ever to be developed for a planetary mission. If NASA finds that Europa is a habitable world, a second Europa mission will return, this time landing there to further study signs of life.

“At the time of launch, I will have been working on the Europa Clipper for a dozen years,” said Dipak Srinivasan, the lead communications systems engineer. “You know, seeing it from its infancy, literal napkin designs of what this spacecraft could look like, to actual realized hardware, to get it on its journey to Europa. It’s just going to be a wonderful feeling.”

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[JACK AYLMER]

NASA’S IS JUST WEEKS AWAY FROM ITS FIRST MISSION DESIGNED TO EXPLORE JUPITER’S MASSIVE MOON “EUROPA.”

[DIPAK SRINIVASAN]

I WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR LEADING A TEAM OF FOLKS TO BUILD ALL THE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS… 

[JACK AYLMER]

AHEAD OF THE HISTORIC LAUNCH THE AGENCY IS RELEASING VIDEOS OFFERING A BEHIND-THE-SCENES LOOK AT WHAT’S GOING INTO THE ‘CLIPPER’ MISSION. 

[DIPAK SRINIVASAN]

AT THE TIME OF LAUNCH, I WILL HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THE EUROPA CLIPPER FOR A DOZEN YEARS. YOU KNOW, SEEING IT FROM ITS INFANCY, LITERAL NAPKIN DESIGNS OF WHAT THIS SPACECRAFT COULD LOOK LIKE, TO ACTUAL REALIZED HARDWARE, TO GET IT ON ITS JOURNEY TO EUROPA. IT’S JUST GOING TO BE A WONDERFUL FEELING. I’M DIPAK SRINIVASAN, AND I WORK TO MAKE SURE THAT WE COMMUNICATE WITH THE EUROPA CLIPPER SPACECRAFT.

[JACK AYLMER]

NASA IS HIGHLIGHTING THE EFFORTS OF FIVE ENGINEERS WORKING ON THE CRAFT THAT WILL EXPLORE JUPITER’S MOON IN SEARCH OF A “GLOBAL SALTWATER OCEAN BENEATH ITS ICY SHELL.”

[DIPAK SRINIVASAN]

EVER SINCE GALILEO SAW A SPARKLE NEXT TO JUPITER… WE THINK EUROPA HAS ROUGHLY TWICE AS MUCH WATER AS EARTH… AND HERE ON EARTH WHEREVER THERE IS WATER WE FOUND LIFE. 

[JACK AYLMER]

THE MISSION, COULD LAUNCH AS EARLY AS OCTOBER 10TH.

THE SPACECRAFT WILL ORBIT JUPITER AND COLLECT DATA WITH NINE PIECES OF TECH AND CONDUCT AN EXPERIMENT USING TELECOMMUNICATIONS TO GATHER GRAVITY DATA ON THE UNFORGIVING RADIATION ENVIRONMENT OF JUPITER.

THE LENGTH OF A BASKETBALL COURT, THE EUROPA PROBE IS THE LARGEST SPACECRAFT EVER TO BE DEVELOPED FOR A PLANETARY MISSION. 

[DIPAK SRINIVASAN]

THIS IS LIKE ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING TIMES TO BE WORKING IN SPACE BECAUSE WE’RE EXPLORING THE FRONTIERS OF LIFE. 

[JACK AYLMER]

IF NASA FINDS THAT EUROPA IS A HABITABLE WORLD, A SECOND EUROPA MISSION WILL RETURN, THIS TIME LANDING THERE TO FURTHER STUDY SIGNS OF LIFE. 

FOR MORE ON THIS STORY WE’LL BE SURE TO FOLLOW– DOWNLOAD THE STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS APP OR VISIT SAN DOT COM.

FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS– I’M JACK AYLMER.