The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is all set to launch the Europa Clipper Mission to Jupiter’s moon, Europa, this October, aiming to uncover its mysteries. Extraterrestrial life may exist on Europa because its icy crust hides a huge ocean that is larger than all of Earth’s oceans put together.
NASA engraved a message on the spacecraft in 103 languages, including Hindi, that represented the word “water” in visual waveforms together with the American Sign Language symbol for it, symbolising Earth’s link with Europa. The goal of the Europa Clipper project is to promote curiosity and connectivity over cosmic distances, drawing inspiration from the golden record of the Voyager expedition.
The spaceship is carrying a silicon microchip with over 2.6 million names, which stand for human ingenuity and the spirit of exploration, as well as a literary homage written by US Poet Laureate Ada Limón. The mission’s vault plate, according to NASA’s Planetary Science Division Director Lori Glaze, combines science, technology, education, art, and arithmetic.
As humanity ventures into the depths of Jupiter’s moon, the Europa Clipper mission symbolises our boundless curiosity and collaborative spirit in the cosmos.
