NASA is set to launch its Europa Clipper spacecraft this month, embarking on an ambitious mission to investigate Jupiter and its moon Europa to determine whether conditions there could support life.

According to a report from the Associated Press, the Europa Clipper will be propelled into space by SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, embarking on a journey of 1.8 billion miles. The spacecraft is expected to arrive at Jupiter by 2030 and begin operations the following year. During its mission, it will make 49 close flybys of Europa, coming within just 16 miles of the moon’s surface to gather data like never before. The mission will culminate in 2034 with a controlled descent onto Ganymede, another of Jupiter’s moons.

The Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has built for investigating other planets. Due to Jupiter’s distance from the Sun, it requires massive solar panels to capture sufficient energy. While the main body of the spacecraft is about the size of a camper van, its solar panel wings and antennas, when fully deployed, span approximately the size of a basketball court, totaling over 100 feet from end to end and weighing nearly 13,000 pounds.

Europa is one of Jupiter’s 95 known moons and is comparable in size to Earth’s moon. It is covered by an ice shell that may be between 10 and 15 miles thick, and scientists believe a subsurface ocean could lie beneath, potentially extending over 80 miles deep. Previous observations from the Hubble Space Telescope have detected geysers erupting from the moon’s surface.

The hydrothermal vents on Europa’s ocean floor may harbor life, and deputy science team lead Bonnie Buratti speculates that any life found there could be primitive, akin to the microbes believed to be among the earliest life forms on Earth, originating from deep-sea vents. However, the current mission will not be able to determine this possibility, as it will not be able to probe such depths. The primary objective of the Europa Clipper is to ascertain whether any bodies of water beneath Europa’s ice can support life. Searching for life or extracting microorganisms would require a future mission.

In terms of radiation, Jupiter’s environment is one of the most intense in our solar system, second only to the Sun. While this radiation could eradicate any potential life on Europa’s surface, it may also break down water molecules and potentially liberate oxygen into the ocean, providing necessary energy for marine life. Additionally, the radiation poses a significant threat to the spacecraft’s instruments, which are protected by high-density aluminum and zinc shielding.