NASA And SpaceX Delay The Launch Of The Europa Clipper Due To Milton Storm

JAKARTA Europa Clipper, a spacecraft designed to observe one of Jupiter's moons, was supposed to launch on Thursday, October 10. However, NASA decided to postpone its launch.

This happened because Hurricane Milton attacked Florida. The storm, which falls into category 5 at a speed of 281 kilometers per hour, is expected to move east of Florida. As a result, strong winds and heavy rains will enter Cape Canaveral.

After deciding to cancel the mission and secure itself, NASA said that the Europa Clipper vehicle had been secured inside the SpaceX hangar at the Kennedy Space Center. NASA and SpaceX have been making preparations since last October 6.

Dunn's team, Senior Launch Director at NASA's Launch Service Program, said that the cancellation of this mission was not only carried out to protect the devices they were developing. NASA and SpaceX also want to protect their workers.

"The rescue of launch team personnel is our top priority, and all precautions will be taken to protect the Europa Clipper spacecraft," Dunn said, quoted via NASA's blog.

If the storm has been confirmed to stop, the recovery team from SpaceX will assess the security of its launch area first. If it is safe, the team will return to work and conduct further research to find out various damage caused by the storm.

"Once we get the 'permit' followed by facility assessments and recovery measures, we will determine the next launch opportunity for this NASA's main mission," Dunn said.