by We’ll have to wait a little longer before NASA’s Europa Clipper probe takes off.
The $5 billion Europa Clipper mission was scheduled to launch on Thursday (October 10) atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), on Florida’s Atlantic coast. But Hurricane Milton foiled that plan.
“NASA and SpaceX are terminating the Thursday, Oct. 10, launch attempt of the agency’s Europa Clipper mission due to expected hurricane conditions in the area,” NASA officials wrote in an update on Sunday (Oct. 6).
“Hurricane Milton is expected to move eastward from the Gulf of Mexico toward the Space Coast this week,” she added. “High winds and heavy rain are expected in the Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island regions of Florida’s east coast.”
Launch teams secured the probe at SpaceX’s hangar in KSC’s historic Launch Complex 39A. The rest of the NASA center has also begun preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Milton, NASA officials said.
“The safety of launch team personnel is our top priority and every precaution will be taken to protect the Europa Clipper spacecraft,” Tim Dunn, senior launch director at NASA’s Launch Services Program, said in the update.
Related: Why NASA’s Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter’s icy moon is such a big deal
It’s still too early to predict when Clipper can fly, but the mission still has quite a bit of time: the launch window runs through November 6.
“Once we get the all-clear, followed by a facility assessment and any remediation actions, we will determine the next launch opportunity for this NASA flagship mission,” Dunn said.
If all goes according to plan, Clipper will reach the Jupiter system in 2030. The probe will orbit the gas giant but study Europa – thought to harbor a vast ocean of liquid water beneath its icy shell – up close through dozens of flybys.
Clipper will use its nine science instruments to characterize that ocean, helping to assess Europa’s potential to host life as we knew it. The probe’s observations will also help scientists identify good potential landing sites for a life-hunter mission to the European surface, which NASA plans to launch in the not-too-distant future.
