What is the mission's main goal?

To learn if Europa could support life

Europa Clipper Quiz: NASA's Mission to Jupiter's Icy Moon

This Europa Clipper quiz follows NASA's largest planetary spacecraft on its way to Jupiter. Play 10 interactive questions on its 2024 launch on a Falcon Heavy, huge solar arrays, a flight past Mars, arrival at Jupiter around 2030, dozens of close Europa flybys, searching for conditions for life in a hidden ocean, radar to probe the ice and a poem carried on board.

Start Europa Clipper Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Target
Which moon is Europa Clipper designed to study?
Launch
When did Europa Clipper launch?
Rocket
Which rocket launched it?
Size
What is notable about the spacecraft?
Power
How is Europa Clipper powered?
Assist
Which planet did it fly past for a boost in 2025?
Arrive
When is it expected to reach Jupiter?
Flybys
How will it study Europa?
Goal
What is the mission's main goal?
Poem
What is engraved on a plate aboard?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which moon is Europa Clipper designed to study?
Answer: Europa
It orbits Jupiter.
Q2: When did Europa Clipper launch?
Answer: October 2024
It left from Florida.
Q3: Which rocket launched it?
Answer: Falcon Heavy
It is a SpaceX rocket.
Q4: What is notable about the spacecraft?
Answer: It is NASA's largest planetary spacecraft
Its arrays span about 30 m.
Q5: How is Europa Clipper powered?
Answer: Large solar arrays
Sunlight is weak at Jupiter.
Q6: Which planet did it fly past for a boost in 2025?
Answer: Mars
Gravity assists save fuel.
Q7: When is it expected to reach Jupiter?
Answer: Around 2030
Then it begins flybys.
Q8: How will it study Europa?
Answer: With dozens of close flybys
Orbiting Jupiter limits radiation exposure.
Q9: What is the mission's main goal?
Answer: To learn if Europa could support life
It looks at the ocean and ice.
Q10: What is engraved on a plate aboard?
Answer: A poem by Ada Limón
It is called In Praise of Mystery.

On Its Way to an Ocean Moon

Europa Clipper is NASA's mission to study Europa, a moon of Jupiter thought to hide a salty ocean beneath its icy shell. It launched in October 2024 on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Florida. It is NASA's largest planetary spacecraft, with solar arrays spanning about 30 m to collect weak sunlight near Jupiter.

The spacecraft flew past Mars in 2025 for a gravity assist and is expected to reach Jupiter around 2030. Instead of orbiting Europa, it will orbit Jupiter and make dozens of close flybys, limiting time in the planet's intense radiation.

Its instruments, including ice-penetrating radar, cameras and spectrometers, will study the ice, ocean and surface chemistry to learn whether Europa could support life. A plate aboard carries the poem In Praise of Mystery by US Poet Laureate Ada Limón.

What This Quiz Teaches

Space fans will enjoy these questions.

What the mission studies
When and how it launched
How it travels
How it will study Europa
What it carries

Did You Know?

Its electronics sit in a radiation vault.
Europa is slightly smaller than our Moon.
Hubble saw possible plumes on Europa.
Names from the public flew aboard.
ESA's JUICE will also visit Europa.