SpaceX will launch NASA’s highly anticipated Europa Clipper mission on Thursday (Oct. 10), and you can watch the action live.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is scheduled to lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on Thursday at 12:31 p.m. EDT (1631 GMT), kicking off the $5 billion Europa Clipper mission, which will assess the habitability of Jupiter’s ocean moon Europa.
You can watch the launch — the 10th-ever for the powerful Falcon Heavy — live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA, or directly via the space agency. There are a few prelaunch activities to follow as well; here’s a rundown of the schedule.
Oct. 8: Europa Clipper science briefing
On Tuesday (Oct. 8) at 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT), NASA will host a briefing to discuss the science goals of Europa Clipper, which will reach Jupiter‘s orbit in 2030 and study Europa over dozens of close flybys.
The briefing participants are:
- Gina DiBraccio, acting director, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters
- Robert Pappalardo, project scientist, Europa Clipper, NASA’s JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
- Haje Korth, deputy project scientist, Europa Clipper, Applied Physics Laboratory (APL)
- Cynthia Phillips, project staff scientist, Europa Clipper, NASA JPL
Oct. 9: NASA Social panel
A “NASA Social” panel, held at KSC, will stream on Wednesday (Oct. 9) at 2:00 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT). During such events, agency scientists, engineers and officials field questions from the public. You can submit a question to NASA’s X, Facebook and YouTube accounts using the #AskNASA hashtag.
The panelists are:
- Kate Calvin, chief scientist and senior climate advisor, NASA Headquarters
- Caley Burke, Flight Design Analyst, NASA’s Launch Services Program
- Erin Leonard, project staff scientist, Europa Clipper, NASA JPL
- Juan Pablo León, systems testbed engineer, Europa Clipper, NASA JPL
- Elizabeth Turtle, principal investigator, Europa Imaging System instrument, Europa Clipper, APL
Oct. 9: Prelaunch news conference
Then, at 3:30 p.m. (1930 GMT) or thereabouts on Wednesday, NASA will stream a prelaunch news conference. This event will follow the completion of Clipper’s launch readiness review, so the timing could change if that meeting is unexpectedly short or long.
The participants are:
- NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free
- Sandra Connelly, deputy associate administrator, Science Mission…
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