Auto theft probe leads to arrest of 59 suspects, recovery of more than 300 stolen vehicles: Toronto police
Toronto police say 59 suspects are facing a total of 300 charges in connection with an auto theft and re-vinning probe.
A NASA spacecraft rocketed away Monday on a quest to explore Jupiter’s tantalizing moon Europa and reveal whether its vast hidden ocean might hold the keys to life.
It will take Europa Clipper 5 1/2 years to reach Jupiter, where it will slip into orbit around the giant gas planet and sneak close to Europa during dozens of radiation-drenched flybys.
Scientists are almost certain a deep, global ocean exists beneath Europa’s icy crust. And where there is water, there could be life, making the moon one of the most promising places out there to hunt for it.
Europa Clipper won’t look for life; it has no life detectors. Instead, the spacecraft will zero in on the ingredients necessary to sustain life, searching for organic compounds and other clues as it peers beneath the ice for suitable conditions.
SpaceX started Clipper on its 1.8 billion-mile (three billion-kilometre) journey, launching the spacecraft on a Falcon Heavy rocket from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. An hour later, the spacecraft separated from the upper stage, floated off and called home.
“Please say goodbye to Clipper on its way to Europa,” NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's flight director Pranay Mishra announced from Southern California.
"The science on this is really captivating,” NASA associate administrator Jim Free told The Associated Press back at the launch site. Scientists are still learning about the depths of our own ocean, “and here we are looking that far out.”
The US$5.2 billion mission almost got derailed by transistors.
NASA didn’t learn until spring that Clipper’s transistors might be more vulnerable to Jupiter’s intense radiation field than anticipated. Clipper will endure the equivalent of several million chest X-rays during each of the 49 Europa flybys. The space agency spent months reviewing everything before concluding in September that the mission could proceed as planned.
Hurricane Milton added to the anxiety, delaying the launch by several days.
“What a great day. We’re so excited,” JPL director Laurie Leshin said after liftoff.
About the size of a basketball court with its solar wings unfurled, Clipper will swing past Mars and then Earth on its way to Jupiter for gravity assists. The nearly 13,000-pound (5,700-kilogram) probe should reach the solar system’s biggest planet in 2030.
Clipper will circle Jupiter every 21 days. One of those days will bring it close to Europa, among 95 known moons at Jupiter and close to our own moon in size.
The spacecraft will skim as low as 16 miles (25 kilometres) above Europa — much closer than the few previous visitors. Onboard radar will attempt to penetrate the moon’s ice sheet, believed to be 10 miles to 15 miles or more (15 kilometres to 24 kilometers) thick. The ocean below could be 80 miles (120 kilometres) or more deep.
The spacecraft holds nine instruments, with its sensitive electronics stored in a vault with dense zinc and aluminum walls for protection against radiation. Exploration will last until 2034.
“Ocean worlds like Europa are not only unique because they might be habitable, but they might be habitable today,” NASA’s Gina DiBraccio said on the eve of launch.
If conditions are found to be favourable for life at Europa, then that opens up the possibility of life at other ocean worlds in our solar system and beyond, according to scientists. With an underground ocean and geysers, Saturn’s moon Enceladus is another top candidate.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Toronto police say 59 suspects are facing a total of 300 charges in connection with an auto theft and re-vinning probe.
An Ontario woman is facing serious charges after police allege she pretended to be a registered nurse at several Simcoe County facilities, despite being unqualified.
Hundreds of people are flocking to see a rare site in Pennsylvania: remnants of a historic town that is usually underwater.
Democrats Abroad Canada is warning Americans that a potential postal workers strike this weekend could affect the ability to vote in next week's election.
New Westminster Mayor Patrick Johnstone's all-expenses-paid trip to Dubai for a climate conference last December violated the city's Code of Conduct for Council Members and the Community Charter, the city's ethics commissioner has ruled.
An Edmonton Police Service officer was caught on camera running over a woman with a marked cruiser last month.
An appeal has been denied to extend the sentence of an Ontario trucker who killed a woman in his Edmonton hotel room in 2011.
A new Secret Service report into the July assassination attempt against former U.S. president Donald Trump said multiple staffers knew about clear line-of-sight risks but found them 'acceptable' and that farm equipment intended to obstruct the view from the nearby building where the gunman opened fire was never used.
The Dodgers' most valuable pet: Decoy Ohtani, dog of Shohei, has become a fixture of Dodgers — and dog — fandom.
A Windsor teen’s social media post showing off a distinctive Windsor pizza topping has gone viral, drawing millions of views worldwide and sparking new curiosity about Windsor-style pizza.
Auston Matthews has come face to face with his look-alike. On Thursday, the Maple Leafs star met seven-year-old Grayson Joseph, who went viral for dressing up as an Auston Matthews hockey card.
A Halifax junk remover shares some of his company’s strangest discoveries.
When Leah arrived at work directing traffic around a construction site, she never expected to see a van painted in all sorts of bright colours, and covered in eclectic decorations, including a stuffed moose attached to its roof.
After 14 years of repairing and selling bicycles out of the garage of her home, a Guelph, Ont. woman’s efforts have ended – for now, at least.
Epcor says it has removed more than 20,000 goldfish from an Edmonton stormwater pond.
Witches and warlocks have been flocking to New Brunswick waterways this month, as a new Halloween tradition ripples across the province.
New Brunswicker Jillea Godin’s elaborate cosplay pieces attract thousands to her online accounts, as well as requests from celebrities for their own pieces.
A new resident at a Manitoba animal rescue has waddled her way into people's hearts.