The US space agency has claimed that “almost every detail of the spacecraft has been done by hand”.
The Europa Clipper mission will launch on a SpaceX-owned Falcon Heavy rocket in 2024 and the goal of its mission, if all goes as planned, will be to investigate whether Jupiter’s moon harbors conditions suitable for life.
Clipper has begun the assembly phase at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. This spacecraft will carry nine scientific instruments to one of the most intriguing objects in the solar system: Jupiter’s icy moon Europa.
“When fully assembled, NASA’s Europa Clipper will be as big as an SUV with solar panels long enough to span a basketball court, all the better to help propel the spacecraft during its journey to Europe’s icy moon Europa.” Jupiter,” NASA said in a press release.
For the engineers who have been on the Europa Clipper project for years, moving on to the assembly phase is quite a milestone.
“We will learn how the system we designed will actually work,” explains project manager Jan Chodas, who oversees the assembly of the Europa Clipper. “It will be very exciting to see the hardware, flight software and instruments integrated and tested.”
What’s Clipper like?
The main body of the spacecraft is a giant 10-foot-tall propulsion module designed and built by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland.
“Now, engineering components and science instruments are starting to arrive from around the country and from Europe as well . Before the end of the year, most of the flight hardware, including a suite of nine science instruments, is expected to be ready. full”.
And after the assembly of the spaceship is finished?
When this phase is complete, Europa Clipper will be transferred to JPL’s thermal vacuum chamber, where engineers will subject it to the harsh conditions of deep space. Then to “intense vibration testing” to make sure it can withstand the launch.
The launch of Europa Clipper is scheduled for October 2024. Elon Musk’s firm SpaceX will provide ‘launch services’ for the mission thanks to a Falcon Heavy rocket, Finally, if everything goes as planned, the spacecraft would reach the orbit of Jupiter in 2030.
Clipper will orbit Jupiter and make multiple close flybys of Europa to collect data on the moon’s atmosphere, surface and interior. Its payload will investigate everything from the depth and salinity of the ocean to the thickness of the ice crust.
Researchers are very excited about the Europa Clipper mission, as the moon’s ocean could have astrobiological implications. If we do find life in our solar system, no matter what strange form it takes, it could be on Europa.
While not a life-detection mission, it will do a detailed reconnaissance of Europa and investigate whether the icy moon, with its subterranean ocean, has the capacity to host it . According to NASA, Europa’s subterranean ocean could contain more than twice as much water as Earth.
Understanding the habitability of this moon will help scientists better understand how life developed on Earth and whether it can be found beyond our planet.
Referencia: NASA EUROPA CLIPPER Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL
