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NASA approves mission to search for a hidden ocean on Jupiter’s moon Europa

After resolving a threat to the spacecraft’s circuitry, the US space agency is now weeks away from launching the orbiter.
  1. Michael Greshko
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After decades of dreaming of Jupiter’s moon Europa — and the vast ocean that probably lies beneath its icy surface — scientists are now weeks away from sending a spacecraft there. NASA confirmed yesterday that its Europa Clipper mission will launch on schedule, following a scare that it might face significant delays due to possibly faulty transistors that were installed on the US$5-billion spacecraft.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02939-9

Updates & Corrections

  • Clarification 16 September 2024: An earlier version of this story indicated that SpaceX is in Brownsville, Texas. It operates from this location and has indicated it wants to move there, but at the moment, its official headquarters are still in Hawthorne, California.

References

  1. Pappalardo, R. T. et al. Space Sci. Rev. 220, 40 (2024).

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