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                           Astronomy Picture of the Day   
      
       Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our   
         fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation   
                       written by a professional astronomer.   
      
                                  2024 October 17   
      
                             The Clipper and the Comet   
             Image Credit & Copyright: Ben Cooper (Launch Photography)   
      
      Explanation: NASA's Europa Clipper is now headed toward an ocean world   
      beyond Earth. The large spacecraft is tucked into the payload fairing   
      atop the Falcon Heavy rocket in this photo, taken at Kennedy Space   
      Center the day before the mission's successful October 14 launch.   
      Europa Clipper's interplanetary voyage will first take it to Mars, then   
      back to Earth, and then on to Jupiter on gravity assist trajectories   
      that will allow it to enter orbit around Jupiter in April 2030. Once   
      orbiting Jupiter, the spacecraft will fly past Europa 49 times,   
      exploring a Jovian moon with a global subsurface ocean that may have   
      conditions to support life. Posing in the background next to the   
      floodlit rocket is Comet Tsuchinsan-ATLAS, about a day after the   
      comet's closest approach to Earth. A current darling of evening skies,   
      the naked-eye comet is a vistor from the distant Oort cloud   
      
                 Growing Gallery: Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in 2024   
                        Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.   
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                         A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,   
                              NASA Science Activation   
                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
      
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