A NASA video shows the spacecraft’s wild ride through the ocean world

NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft is on an extraordinary journey.

The launch of this mission to explore the ocean world Europa – a moon of Jupiter that probably holds an ocean double the dose of all the Earth’s oceans – was disrupted by Hurricane Milton, but its 1.8 billion mile journey is almost over. The spacecraft will make nearly 50 flybys of Europa’s cracked, icy shell, using dozens of high-definition cameras, ground-penetrating radar, and even a device that will literally sample Europa’s particles ejected into space by small meteorites. .

The mission will gather a wealth of information, enough to determine whether or not Europa has harbors and conditions that could support life beneath its icy shell.

“It’s probably one of the best places beyond Earth to look for life in our solar system,” Cynthia Phillips, a NASA planetary scientist and staff scientist for the agency’s Europa Clipper project, told Mashable.

A repeat probe will require the craft to make well-timed loops around Jupiter as it traverses Europa’s orbit, shown by NASA in the animation below.

Here’s what you’re watching (a short ad plays first):

– medium orange dot: Jupiter

– Green dot: In Europe

– Gray, red, and yellow dots: In order are the other three largest moons of Jupiter – Io, Ganymede, and Callisto

-Magenta: That’s the Europa Clipper “in and out,” NASA explained.

There is also a time stamp in the upper right that shows the planned flight of the mission between April and July 2032.

This loping route is also designed to limit the spacecraft’s exposure to highly hazardous radiation. “The area of ​​charged particles in Europa’s orbit is enormous,” Phillips said.

That’s because Jupiter, a gas giant planet 317 times the size of Earth, generates massive magnetic fields that shoot between 600,000 and 2 million miles (1 to 3 million kilometers) toward the sun. It is created by the liquid iron core of the planet, which rotates and creates electric currents (moving electric charges that create magnets). Worse, this magnetic field captures and accelerates the relentless solar wind – a stream of rapidly charged particles emitted by the sun – creating powerful radiation belts around Jupiter, as shown above.

“Get out of there.”

(Decades ago, during the Voyager mission, NASA engineers were concerned about the spacecraft passing by Jupiter. A person aboard Voyager hypothetically as it passed Jupiter would receive a dose of radiation. 1,000 times fatal rate.)

Not all of the Europa Clipper’s electronics and software can be housed in a metallic environment, so orbiting the moon for a short time will limit the effects of charged particles, which can damage computer chips and electronics. During each orbit of Jupiter, the craft will spend less than a day in the radiation zone before sneaking out. It won’t be back for two to three weeks.

“Get out of there,” Phillips said.

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After traversing the solar system, the spacecraft is expected to reach Jupiter in 2030, and soon begin its orbital dance through the Jovian system. If it proves uninhabitable, NASA plans to return to Europa and place the robot on the icy surface. Such an effort would drill through the ice, to see if the moon is there people live.