NASA wants to establish a permanent human presence on the moon, but right now, astronauts have to be in direct line of sight with Earth to phone home. The space agency is looking to change that with its developing Near Space Network,

NASA plans to launch the Europa Clipper mission on October 10, 2024, targeting Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. The mission seeks to explore whether Europa’s subsurface ocean can harbor life. The spacecraft will execute 49 flybys of the moon to gather crucial data about its ice shell and potential habitability while navigating intense radiation zones.

A long-awaited mission to Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter, is on track to launch in just a few weeks. (Story aired on All Things Considered on Sept. 17, 2024.)

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket will launch from the Kennedy Space Center with the largest spacecraft NASA has ever built for a planetary mission. The NASA Europa Clipper spacecraft plans to study Jupiter’s icy moon Europa for signs of life.