Pasadena, United States:
US space scientists on Thursday unveiled the interplanetary probe that NASA plans to send to one of Jupiter's icy moons as part of humanity's hunt for extraterrestrial life.
The Clipper spacecraft will blast off in October en route to Europa, one of dozens of moons orbiting the solar system's largest planet, and the closest spot in our celestial environment that could harbor life.
“One of the fundamental questions NASA wants to understand is: Are we alone in the cosmos?” Bob Pappalardo, the mission's project scientist, told AFP.
“If we were to find the conditions for life, and one day actually find life in a place like Europa, that would mean that there are two examples of life in our own solar system: Earth and Europa.
“That would be huge to understand how common life could be in the entire universe.”
The $5 billion probe is currently at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, in a “clean room” – a confined space accessible only to people wearing head-to-toe coverings.
The precautions are intended to ensure the probe remains free of contaminants to prevent terrestrial microbes from being transported to Europe.
After transport to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Clipper will launch aboard a Space
By 2031, it should be in orbit around Jupiter and Europa, where it will begin a detailed survey of the moon, which scientists say is covered in frozen water.
“We have instruments like cameras and spectrometers, a magnetometer and a radar that can penetrate right through ice, reflect liquid water and bounce back to the surface to tell us how thick the ice is and where liquid water is,” said Pappalardo.
Mission managers don't expect to see little green men swimming in the water; in fact, they are not even looking for life itself, but only for the circumstances that can support it.
Scientists know from extreme environments on Earth – such as low-light geothermal vents deep beneath the polar ice cap – that small creatures can be found almost everywhere.
And conditions on Europa, which is almost the size of Earth's moon, could provide a similar habitat, offering the tantalizing prospect that we are not alone – even in our own solar system.
“If moons around planets far away from the stars could harbor life, then the number of opportunities around the solar system, around the universe, where life could occur would increase dramatically,” said Jordan Evans, project manager of the Europa Clipper. mission.
Challenges
The science isn't simple: a powerful radiation field around Europa could affect the instruments, causing each circuit around the moon to receive the equivalent of 100,000 chest X-rays.
Due to the enormous distances involved, it takes 45 minutes for the signal to reach Mission Control when Clipper sends back its data.
And despite its massive solar panel, which once unfolds in space, powering the Clipper will be a major challenge, Evans said.
“Right after launch the solar panels put out 23,000 watts… but when we get to Jupiter, so far away from the sun, they only put out 700 watts,” he said.
“Near Earth, they could power 20 houses continuously. And when we get to Jupiter, just a few light bulbs and some small appliances.”
The mission, planning for which began in the late 1990s, is expected to be completed around 2034, when Clipper will likely have reached the end of its useful life.
The probe will then have one final port of call: Jupiter's largest moon, said deputy project manager Tim Larson.
“After we finish the science mission, we will end by colliding with one of the other bodies in the Jovian system to destroy the spacecraft,” he said.
“Right now the plan is to enter Ganymede.”
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