Europa Clipper lifts off from the launch pad atop a white rocket with two smaller side boosters. A bright, white and orange pillar of fire shoots from the bottom of the rocket stack. White smoke billows around the launch pad. The SpaceX fixed service structure is to the left of the rocket. A white water tower with the SpaceX logo is to the right. Farther right is a small, round, gray structure.

Europa Clipper as It Lifts Off

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:06 p.m. EDT on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. After launch, the spacecraft plans to fly by Mars in February 2025, then back by Earth in December 2026, using the gravity of each planet to increase its momentum. With help of these “gravity assists,” Europa Clipper will achieve the velocity needed to reach Jupiter in April 2030.

Credits: SpaceX
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TakenOctober 14, 2024
Image CreditSpaceX
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