THE NEW SPACE RACE: Life On A Jupiter Moon? NASA And SpaceX Confirm Launch Plans — What To Know.

NASA and SpaceX have announced that their Europa Clipper mission, which will help planetary scientists determine if Europa could support life, will launch on Thursday, Oct. 10.

The mission will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA confirmed in an email to media.

Europa—the fourth largest of Jupiter’s 79 moons—has intrigued scientists since a liquid ocean was discovered beneath its icy shell.

The Europa Clipper mission will help scientists determine if Europa, one of Jupiter’s icy moons, could support life. It will reach the Jupiter system in April 2030 and will spend four years studying Europa during at least 32 close flybys. It will photograph the moon’s icy surface in high resolution during each pass.

The largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission, Clipper is about 16 feet tall and 100 feet wide—roughly the size of a basketball court—primarily thanks to its massive solar arrays.

Flybyes are fine. Just attempt no landing there.