American Probe to Moon Europa to Search for Signs of Life

cape canaveral - An American space probe is set to depart for Europa, one of about a hundred moons around the planet Jupiter on Monday in search of potential life.

The launch of the Europa Clipper is currently scheduled for 18:06 local time in the Netherlands. The departure was initially planned for last week but was postponed due to Hurricane Milton passing by the launch site in the American state of Florida.

Europa is slightly smaller than our moon, with a surface crust of ice around 20 kilometers thick. Beneath it lies a suspected hundred-kilometer-deep ocean of liquid saltwater, which, if true, would mean Europa has twice as much water as all the oceans on Earth combined. While this doesn't guarantee life on Europa, the conditions make it worthwhile for the American space agency NASA to explore. It marks the fourth mission ever to Jupiter and its moons.

The Europa Clipper is expected to reach Jupiter in April 2030 after a journey of around 2.9 billion kilometers. The probe is slightly larger than a basketball court with two large solar panels built in Leiden.

Last year, the European Space Agency ESA launched its own probe towards Europa and two other Jupiter moons, Callisto and Ganymede, with the Juice mission also aimed at searching for potential signs of life.