NASA spacecraft rockets toward Jupiter's moon Europa in search of the right conditions for life

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A NASA spacecraft rocketed away Monday on a quest to explore Jupiter’s tantalizing moon Europa and reveal whether its vast hidden ocean might hold the keys to life.

It will take Europa Clipper 5 1/2 years to reach Jupiter, where it will slip into orbit around the giant gas planet and sneak close to Europa during dozens of radiation-drenched flybys.

Scientists are almost certain a deep, global ocean exists beneath Europa’s icy crust. And where there is water, there could be life, making the moon one of the most promising places out there to hunt for it.

Europa Clipper won’t look for life; it has no life detectors. Instead, the spacecraft will zero in on the ingredients necessary to sustain life, searching for organic compounds and other clues as it peers beneath the ice for suitable conditions.

SpaceX started Clipper on its 1.8 billion-mile (3 billion-kilometer) journey, launching the spacecraft on a Falcon Heavy rocket from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. An hour later, the spacecraft separated from the upper stage, floated off and called home.

“Please say goodbye to Clipper on its way to Europa,” NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's flight director Pranay Mishra announced from Southern California.

"The science on this is really captivating,” NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free told The Associated Press back at the launch site. Scientists are still learning about the depths of our own ocean, “and here we are looking that far out.”

The $5.2 billion mission almost got derailed by transistors.

NASA didn’t learn until spring that Clipper’s transistors might be more vulnerable to Jupiter’s intense radiation field than anticipated. Clipper will endure the equivalent of several million chest X-rays during each of the 49 Europa flybys. The space agency spent months reviewing everything before concluding in September that the mission could proceed as planned.

Hurricane Milton added to the anxiety, delaying the launch by several days.

“What a great day. We’re so excited,” JPL Director Laurie Leshin said after liftoff.

About the size of a basketball court with its solar wings unfurled, Clipper will swing past Mars and then Earth on its way to Jupiter for gravity assists. The nearly 13,000-pound (5,700-kilogram) probe should reach the solar system’s biggest planet in 2030.

Clipper will circle Jupiter every 21 days. One of those days will bring it close to Europa, among 95 known moons at Jupiter and close to our own moon in size.

The spacecraft will skim as low as 16 miles (25 kilometers) above Europa — much closer than the few previous visitors. Onboard radar will attempt to penetrate the moon’s ice sheet, believed to be 10 miles to 15 miles or more (15 kilometers to 24 kilometers) thick. The ocean below could be 80 miles (120 kilometers) or more deep.

The spacecraft holds nine instruments, with its sensitive electronics stored in a vault with dense zinc and aluminum walls for protection against radiation. Exploration will last until 2034.

“Ocean worlds like Europa are not only unique because they might be habitable, but they might be habitable today,” NASA’s Gina DiBraccio said on the eve of launch.

If conditions are found to be favorable for life at Europa, then that opens up the possibility of life at other ocean worlds in our solar system and beyond, according to scientists. With an underground ocean and geysers, Saturn’s moon Enceladus is another top candidate.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with a NASA spacecraft bound for Jupiter lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center Monday, Oct. 14, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

This illustration provided by NASA depicts the Europa Clipper spacecraft over the moon, Europa, with Jupiter at background left. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)

This illustration provided by NASA depicts the Europa Clipper spacecraft above the surface of the moon Europa, foreground, and Jupiter behind. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with a NASA spacecraft bound for Jupiter stands ready for launch on pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center Monday, Oct. 14, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with a NASA spacecraft bound for Jupiter stands ready for launch today on pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center Monday, Oct. 14, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with a NASA spacecraft bound for Jupiter stands ready for launch today on pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center Monday, Oct. 14, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with a NASA spacecraft bound for Jupiter stands ready for launch today on pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center Monday, Oct. 14, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with a NASA spacecraft bound for Jupiter lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center Monday, Oct. 14, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with a NASA spacecraft bound for Jupiter lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center Monday, Oct. 14, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with a NASA spacecraft bound for Jupiter lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center Monday, Oct. 14, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with a NASA spacecraft bound for Jupiter lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center Monday, Oct. 14, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with a NASA spacecraft bound for Jupiter lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center Monday, Oct. 14, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with a NASA spacecraft bound for Jupiter lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center Monday, Oct. 14, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Germany on Saturday was still in shock and struggling to understand the suspect behind the attack in the city of Magdeburg.

Identified by local media as 50-year-old Taleb A., a psychiatry and psychotherapy specialist, authorities said he has been living in Germany for two decades. He was arrested on site after plowing a black BMW into a Christmas market crowded with holiday shoppers Friday evening, killing at least five people and wounding about 200 others.

Prominent German terrorism expert Peter Neumann posted on X that he had yet to come across a suspect in an act of mass violence with that profile.

Taleb’s X account is filled with tweets and retweets focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticism of the religion while sharing congratulatory notes to Muslims who left the faith. He also described himself as a former Muslim.

He was critical of German authorities, saying they had failed to do enough to combat the “Islamism of Europe.”

He has also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Some described Taleb as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland. Recently, he seemed focused on his theory that German authorities have been targeting Saudi asylum seekers.

Neumann, the terrorism expert, wrote: “After 25 years in this ‘business’ you think nothing could surprise you anymore. But a 50-year-old Saudi ex-Muslim who lives in East Germany, loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance towards Islamists — that really wasn’t on my radar."

A person stands by flowers and candles placed outside St. John's Church near a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)