NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission Set to Launch with Message from Earth
NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, scheduled to launch in October, is set to carry a unique message into space that includes more than 2.6 million names submitted by the public. The spacecraft will be heading towards Jupiter’s moon Europa, which is believed to have more than twice the amount of water of all of Earth’s oceans combined.
The spacecraft will feature a metal plate with an engraving of U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón’s poem “In Praise of Mystery,” along with a silicon microchip containing the submitted names. Made of tantalum, the plate will also include recordings of the word “water” spoken in 103 languages and the American Sign Language sign for “water.”
Europa Clipper aims to spark imagination and offer a unifying vision through its layered message, similar to the Voyager spacecraft’s Golden Record. The mission will include 49 close flybys of Europa to gather data about the moon’s subsurface ocean, icy crust, thin atmosphere, and space environment.
The spacecraft will also carry references to the Drake Equation, used to estimate the possibility of finding advanced civilizations beyond Earth, etched onto the plate. Additionally, the plate includes a reference to the radio frequencies used for interstellar communication and a portrait of planetary science founder Ron Greeley.
Europa Clipper’s mission goal is to determine whether there are places on Europa that could support life, focusing on the thickness of the icy shell, composition, and geology. With its unique message and advanced instruments, the spacecraft is set to provide valuable insights into the potential for life beyond Earth.
