Europa Clipper’s launch was delayed at the last minute after Hurricane Milton hit Florida this week.
The spacecraft was sent indoors for cover, but after inspecting the Cape Canaveral launch pad for damage, engineers gave the go-ahead for launch at 12.06pm local time (5.06pm BST) on 14 October.
“If we find life this far from the Sun, it would mean a separate origin for life on Earth,” says Mark Fox-Powell, a planetary microbiologist at the Open University.
“This is very important because if this happens twice in our solar system, it could mean that life really is common,” he says.
Located 628 m from Earth, Europa is slightly larger than our moon, but that’s where the similarities end.
If it were in our sky, it would shine five times brighter because the water ice would reflect much more sunlight.
Its ice crust is up to 25 km thick, and beneath it may be a huge ocean of salt water. There may also be chemicals that are ingredients of simple life.
