NASA Finally Launches Europa Clipper

NASA launched Europa Clipper on Monday following years of bureaucratic red tape, technical difficulties, and last-minute weather concerns. The spacecraft is now on its way to investigate Europa, the smallest of Jupiter's Galilean moons and the one considered most likely to support life.

Europa Clipper hitched a ride to space via SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, which lifted off from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A at 12:06 p.m. EDT. Using more than 5 million pounds of thrust, the Falcon Heavy's 27 Merlin engines propelled Clipper through Earth's atmosphere, then allowed its side boosters to separate from the center core. The rocket's payload fairing—the mission's only recoverable component—descended back to Earth as its second stage kicked off its initial 3-minute burn.

Weather officials at the US Space Force's Cape Canaveral Station were wary of potential meteorological obstacles after weather-related ...