FILE PHOTO: The Europa Clipper spacecraft, which main science goal is to determine whether there are places below the surface of Jupiter's icy moon, Europa, that could support life, is seen being built and tested at Jet Propulsion Laboratory during a media tour, in Pasadena, California, U.S. April 11, 2024. REUTERS/David Swanson/File Photo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - NASA is set to launch a spacecraft to Jupiter's moon Europa, considered one of our solar system's most promising spots to search for life beyond Earth, to learn whether this ice-encased world believed to harbor a vast underground ocean is habitable.
The U.S. space agency's robotic solar-powered Europa Clipper spacecraft will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, carrying nine scientific instruments. After traveling 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion km) in a trip lasting about 5-1/2 years, Europa Clipper is due to enter orbit around Jupiter in 2030.
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