NASA's Europa Clipper Mission Lifts Off Monday Successfully

CAPE CANAVERAL - NASA's Europa mission began on Monday, shortly after 12:00 PM ET. They couldn't have drawn up any better weather for a launch, with temperatures in the upper 70's and hardly a cloud in the sky.

As a matter of fact, you could see the launch from GOES East, the satellite we use to monitor the weather from space! Look carefully and you can pick out when the rocket took off from Cape Canaveral. It's easier if you look at the water vapor channel:

The purpose of the mission is to investigate whether or not the moon of Jupiter, Europa, contains water. The spacecraft will travel almost 2 billion miles to reach Jupiter in April of 2030. After that, it will fly by the moon Europa. For more information about the launch, visit NASA's page on the Europa Clipper.