Richard Fidler

Somewhere in the lonely silence of the solar system, the Europa Clipper is on its way to investigate a beautiful icy moon of Jupiter's called Europa.

This is the largest spacecraft ever built by NASA.

It looks like a bundle of technology and machinery flanked by two huge wings.

Europa is fascinating to scientists and to people like me because it has water, which forms a thick crust of ice on its surface.

And having water, scientists think maybe, just maybe, just possibly, Europa might also have life swimming below all that ice.

Tracey Drain is here today.

Tracey is the chief engineer at NASA of this mission.

She's an aerospace engineer who's worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab for over two decades, working to develop spacecraft that boldly go where no human has gone before.

Tracey is in Australia for Brisbane's World Science Festival, and she's also a National Geographic Explorer.

Hello, Tracey.

Welcome.

What does it mean to be a National Geographic Explorer?

I think space missions, this is just me, but I think the space program reflects some of the very, very best human values.

You're the chief engineer of this program, the Europa Space Clipper mission.

Tell me about its mission objectives.

What are you all hoping to achieve by sending this spacecraft out towards Europa?

Now, I know the mission objectives require projecting X-rays onto its surface and all kinds of other things, but I'm so there for the holiday snaps.

Is it taking snapshots and actual photography of the surface of Europa as well?

Why does this spacecraft need to be so big?

So is this how Europa is able to travel such a vast distance?