When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.An illustration showing the Europa Clipper as it flies past the Jovian moon Europa as Jupiter watches on in the background. | Credit: Robert Lea (created with Canva)On Oct. 14, NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft began a vital mission. It will be investigating the potential habitability of Jupiter’s icy ocean moon Europa — but first, it has to get there.Though not on an “alien hunting” mission, as some have described it, there’s no doubt that the Europa Clipper is an important step forward in our understanding of life elsewhere in the solar system. Europa is thought to harbor some of the essential elements for life under its thick and icy shell, including complex chemicals and water, so the Europa Clipper is tasked with decoding the habitability conditions of this Jovian moon. In doing so, it will help scientists better plan for missions that may have the potential to indeed hunt for living things, even if only by eliminating a once promising target.”The mission’s three main science objectives are to understand the nature of the ice shell and the ocean beneath it, along with the moon’s composition and geology,” NASA writes on its Europa Clipper Mission website. “The mission’s detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.”But it isn’t all plain sailing now that the Europa Clipper has left Earth. The journey to the Jovian system is imposing, with the gas giant sitting an average of 444 million miles (778 million kilometers) away from Earth. Plus, the $6 billion spacecraft won’t be taking a straight shot to the gas giant.By the time the NASA craft reaches the Jovian system in April of 2030, it will have traveled at least 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion km), according to the space agency.Here is what the itinerary looks like.A grand tour of the solar systemFor the Europa Clipper to reach Jupiter and enter the kind of orbit it needs to probe Europa, it will need to make several flybys of other solar system planets. That will include Earth — or at least the region of space around our planet that can provide a “gravity assist.”Now that it has launched, the next major milestone for the spacecraft will be a flyby of Mars on March 1, 2025. During this maneuver, the spacecraft will get as close as 300 miles and 600 miles (482 to 965 kilometers) above Mars’ surface.This gravity assist won’t send the Europa Clipper on to Jupiter, however. Instead, that’s when it comes back toward Earth.A red cricle against a creme background. Within the circle are two smaller red circles and a blue oval that reaches out with a single limb like a sideways inverted The NASA spacecraft will be home in time for Christmas in 2026, making a flyby of our planet …
