Europa Clipper Launch Team at JPL's Mission Control

Mission members celebrate during the successful launch of NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft on Oct. 14, 2024, in the Mission Support Area at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The spacecraft is bound on a 5½-year, 1.8 billion-mile (2.9 billion-kilometer) journey to Jupiter's icy moon Europa, which scientists believe harbors a vast internal ocean that may have conditions suitable for supporting life. Europa Clipper's three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon's icy shell and its interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission's detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26422