NASA launches mission to explore an ocean world that could be habitable

NASA launched a mission Monday to look into a potential ocean world in the solar system that could sustain life. 

NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft is designed to explore Jupiter’s moon, Europa. It launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket Monday just past noon from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff had been delayed since October 10 because of Hurricane Milton.

The spacecraft will attempt to explore "an ice-covered ocean" in the solar system, according to CNN.

This mission could also determine if the moon could be habitable for life. 

“This is the start of our journey of discovery,” a science systems engineer at NASA said, according to the outlet. “Everything we’re going to learn from Europa, it’s just amazing. All scientific disciplines can really gain something from this, and it’s going to change our understanding of our place in the universe if this is a world that could support life.”

This comes around the same time as SpaceX launched its latest test flight to take humans to Mars and to the moon. 

The Super Heavy rocket booster had a successful launch Sunday morning, according to reports.

This is the fifth successful space launch from Space X. 

The ultimate plans are to use the Starship capsule as a landing vehicle that will ferry NASA astronauts to the lunar surface as soon as 2026, according to CNN. SpaceX currently has government contracts worth up to nearly $4 billion to complete the task. SpaceX also hopes that Starship will one day land the first humans on Mars.