Tag: liftoff

Liftoff of NASA’s Europa Clipper!

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:06 p.m. EDT on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. After launch, the spacecraft plans to fly by Mars in February 2025, then back by Earth in December 2026, using the gravity of each planet to increase its momentum. With help of these “gravity assists,” Europa Clipper will achieve the velocity needed to reach Jupiter in April 2030
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:06 p.m. EDT on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

We have liftoff! NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, launched from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:06 p.m. EDT.

The Falcon Heavy’s 27 Merlin engines are generating more than 5 million pounds of thrust, quickly pushing the vehicle through the atmosphere and away from the Florida spaceport. The Falcon Heavy first stage consists of three Falcon 9 boosters strapped together — two sides and a central booster. An upper second stage atop the central booster carries the Europa Clipper spacecraft.

Coming up next, the launch vehicle will reach Max Q, or moment of peak mechanical stress on rocket, followed by side booster separation, then booster engine cutoff about two minutes later.