Picture an ice-covered landscape, rough and rocky. Plumes of water vapor erupt from the surface. Tendrils of algae lurk in the bright white glaciers. Deep below the surface, microorganisms and other creatures cluster near hydrothermal vents,

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.