The US space agency (NASA) today sent the Clipper probe, which will study Europa, a moon of Jupiter that has an ocean beneath its icy surface with potential conditions to support life as we know it.
The space probe was launched from a NASA base in Florida at 12:06 pm local time (5:06 pm in Lisbon), aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket from SpaceX, owned by magnate Elon Musk.
The launch occurred four days later than planned due to Hurricane Milton, which hit the state of Florida on Wednesday night, causing 23 deaths, according to the latest report from US authorities.
The Europa Clipper mission is NASA's first dedicated to "studying an ocean world beyond Earth".
The probe will travel 2.9 billion kilometers and after it begins orbiting Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System, in April 2030, it will pass by Europa 49 times.
Europa, the smallest of Jupiter's four moons discovered by Galileo Galilei in the 17th century, is about the size of Earth's natural satellite, but its interior is different.
Data collected in the 1990s by the Galileo space probe revealed, according to NASA, strong evidence that "beneath Europa's ice lies a vast, salty ocean with more water than all of Earth's oceans combined."
In addition, scientists say that this moon of Jupiter could "host organic compounds and energy sources beneath its surface."
The Clipper probe is equipped with nine scientific instruments, including "an ice-penetrating radar, cameras, and a thermal instrument to look for areas of warmer ice and any recent eruptions of water."
To keep these instruments powered in the weak sunlight that reaches Jupiter, the probe carries the largest solar panels NASA has ever used for an interplanetary mission.
The probe measures 30.5 meters long with the panels open.
Clipper is expected to begin scientific flybys of Europa in 2031 to "determine the thickness of the moon's icy layer and its interactions with the ocean beneath, investigate its composition and characterize its geology."
