A mission to study one of the solar system's most promising environments is underway. NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft was designed to explore its namesake, Jupiter's moon Europa, launched on Monday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Europa Clipper will serve as the organization's first spacecraft dedicated to studying an ice-covered ocean world in our solar system. It aims to determine whether the moon could be habitable for life as we know it. The spacecraft will carry nine instruments and a gravity experiment intended to investigate the ocean beneath Europa's thick ice shell. We discuss the mission with Author David W. Brown. His latest book, "The Mission," chronicles the quest to study this remarkable celestial body. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Connect with us. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy