There are now just hours to go until one of Europe’s most daring and technologically-advanced space missions is blasted to the stars.
Tasked with hunting for clues as to whether Jupiter’s icy moons could host alien life, the six-tonne satellite will have to survive on as little power as a half a hair dryer as it makes an eight-year journey to our solar system’s largest planet.
It will lift off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana at 13:15 BST today.