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The space agency has raised the bar of its mission in Europe, one of 79 moons in orbit around Jupiter, after talking about the prospect of doing so for several years. NASA announced that it would send the Europa Clipper probe between 2023 and 2025. Named after a class of 19th century sailing ships, the Clipper spacecraft will orbit the icy moon to get closer to the moon. flybys.
The main mission of the Clipper is to perform 40 to 45 overflights, including surface investigations and high-resolution images of the moon.
According to NASA, Europa Clipper will fly over the moon, rather than orbiting them, because of the danger of Jupiter's radiation.
The spacecraft will be looking for extraterrestrial life on the moon, which is believed to be an ideal candidate for life.
A statement from NASA said: "The Europa Clipper mission, launched in the 2020s, will be the first comprehensive and dedicated study of a likely ocean world beyond the Earth.
"Jupiter's Europe of the Moon, slightly smaller than the Earth's Moon, can accommodate an ocean of liquid water under its frozen shell, making it an enticing place to look for signs of life.
"The mission will conduct an in-depth exploration of Jupiter's moon, Europa, and investigate whether the icy moon could provide conditions for life, deepening our understanding of astrobiology."
Europa Clipper will search for underground lakes and analyze the thickness of the icy surface of the moon.
When NASA announced that it was going to Europe for the first time, she said the potential mission pursued three goals: to find out if there was or still existed life on Europa, to determine whether the Celestial body is habitable and analyze the surface of the planet. the moon for future missions.
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NASA hopes to know if Europa supports this theory.
Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters in Washington, said: "We are all excited about the decision that will make the Europa Clipper mission a decisive step towards uncovering the mysteries of this oceanic world. .
"We rely on the scientific knowledge received from the flagship Galileo and Cassini vessels and we are working to improve our understanding of our cosmic origin, and even of life elsewhere."
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