NASA's Europa Clipper probe deploys 1st science instruments en route to Jupiter

The black silhouette of a double solar-paneled space probe, with a pair of opposing straight thin antenna extending from either panel arm, is beset before the trippy blue and pink trenches and scars of an icy moon below.

NASA's Europa Clipper mission has successfully deployed two of its science instruments as it makes its way to the Jupiter system.

Launched on Oct. 14, the Europa Clipper spacecraft is currently en route to study Jupiter's icy moon Europa, which is believed to harbor a subsurface ocean. The mission lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. It has since ventured 13 million miles (20 million kilometers) from Earth, traveling at a speed of 22 miles per second (35 kilometers per second) relative to the sun, according to a statement from NASA.