Why Europa Clipper will take six years to reach target? It's not going to Jupiter

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Key Points

Nasa's Europa Clipper mission, which launched on October 14, 2024, is on a six-year journey to reach its destination: Jupiter's intriguing moon Europa...

This extended travel time, while seemingly long, is a carefully calculated necessity driven by several key factors...

To achieve this, the spacecraft must navigate the vast distance between Earth and Jupiter, which is approximately 779 million kilometres at its closest approach...

Europa Clipper will employ a Mars-Earth Gravity Assist (MEGA) trajectory, a complex path that utilises the gravitational fields of Mars and Earth to gain the necessary velocity for its journey to Jupiter...

Europa Clipper's mission could revolutionise our understanding of icy moons and their potential to harbour life, making the six-year journey a small price to pay for such groundbreaking exploration...

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