NASA Spacecraft Bound for Jupiter Moon to Look for Evidence of Alien Life

A search for life in our own backyard, relatively speaking, has begun. A NASA ship is headed to Jupiter. And it'll study one of its icy moons — Europa. The journey started with a Monday launch. It'll take 5.5 years. 

Scientists have long wondered whether Europa is home to alien life. The moon has a vast and deep ocean. Water is a source for life. The Europa Clipper will make dozens of flybys to study the moon. It'll travel as close as 16 miles above the moon's surface.    

The craft is about the size of a basketball court. Aboard it are instruments housed inside a vault built to protect them from Jupiter’s intense radiation. They will search for organic compounds and other matter that might show signs of life. The craft will spend four years surveying Europa.   

Worlds with oceans like Europa are unique because they might support life today, expert Gina DiBraccio told The Associated Press before the launch. She works for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. She's Deputy Director of the Heliophysics Science Division.

What if life were found in such a potentially hostile setting as frozen Europa? It could raise the prospect of life elsewhere in our solar system. Saturn's moon Enceladus is a possible place. It features geysers and an underground ocean.  

The Clipper mission was almost stopped earlier this year. There were concerns that the ship’s transistors might not be able to withstand Jupiter’s intense radiation. But in September, after months of probes, NASA approved the launch. 

“The one thing that we never doubted was that this was going to be worth it,” expert Curt Niebur told Scientific American. Niebur's a Clipper program scientist. “This is an epic mission.” 

Reflect: What do you think are the most exciting possibilities of discovering life beyond Earth?

Gif of Jupiter and Europa from GIPHY.