NASA wants to send an orbiter to Jupiter's moon Europa in a decade
11 Feb 2015 • engadget.comNASA aims to finish building the Clipper spacecraft in ten years, and if the Space Launch System is also ready by then, then it could carry the orbiter to Jupiter within three years’ time. If it uses current rockets, it will take the unmanned vehicle up to eight years just to reach the planet. What exactly will the spacecraft do once it starts orbiting Europa? Well, since its mission is to study the Jovian moon’s potential for habitability, it will get close to Europa and collect samples whenever available.
That Riding Light video the other day sure made light speed travel look slow but my oh my would it be light-years (LOL) ahead of where we are now. Eight years to get from Earth to Jupiter? Insane.
Compare that with 20-40 light minutes. Now that’s more like it.