NASA is launching a hotly anticipated new mission to Jupiter's fourth-largest moon, Europa. Called Europa Clipper, the spacecraft will conduct a detailed study of the moon, looking for potential places where Europa might host alien life.

The Europa Clipper had been scheduled to launch Thursday from Florida, beginning its six-year journey to the Jupiter moon to search for signs of life.

NASA’s Europa Clipper probe will spend about four years exploring whether Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, could support life.

Discovering extraterrestrial life would be one of the most profound scientific and philosophical revelations that our species has ever made. But such a big discovery won't come easy. Our starting point is to first search other worlds for signs of habitability,

All of that, plus fuel, means the spacecraft tips the scales at approximately 13,000 lbs., which requires a bruiser of a rocket to muscle it off the ground. Europa Clipper will get that rocket, in the form of the 27-engine SpaceX Falcon Heavy, with over 5 million lbs. of thrust, able to launch more than 37,000 lbs. on an interplanetary trajectory.

NASA's Europa Clipper mission, set to explore Jupiter's icy moon Europa, will commence with a launch on October 10 using a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. After a journey spanning 1.8 billion miles, the spacecraft aims to investigate Europa's subsurface ocean and its potential for life,

NASA’s Europa Clipper mission is scheduled for launch on October 10, 2024, from Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The mission aims to explore Europa, one of Jupiter’s icy moons,