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Europa Clipper is NASA’s space mission to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. It launched on 14th October 2024, but it will not arrive at Jupiter until 2030. The mission is to investigate whether Europa, or other moons/planets like it, could harbour conditions suitable for life. The spacecraft will be in orbit around Jupiter and make nearly 50 flybys of Europa. The closest-approach will have an altitude of only 16 miles or 25 KM about Europa’s surface.
Europa clipper launched at 12.06pm EDT, 14th October 2024 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rocket’s second stage fired up about 5 minutes after launch and the rocket’s nose cone opened to reveal Europa Clipper. The spacecraft separated from the rocket about an hour after launch. Soon after, the ground controllers detected a signal from the spacecraft. Then, at 1.13pm two-way communication was established with NASA’s Deep Space Network Facility in Canberra, Australia. The initial telemetry reports that all with well with the spacecraft and is operating as expected.
Europa is particularly interesting to investigate for potential life, as there is a gigantic saltwater ocean underneath a thick shell of ice. Scientists are excited as they believe that Europa may have everything that is required to host life as we know it. Including energy, liquid water, and all the basic chemical ingredients for life.
It is estimated that the salty ocean on Europa contains more than twice the amount of water on Earth. However, it could all be locked away under an icy shell. This shell might be only about 3 km wide or could stretch to 30 km. No sunlight would be able to penetrate the ice shell to provide energy for life, vents releasing energy from the moon’s interior could potentially provide energy. This theory is similar to what we observe here at the bottom of the Earth’s oceans. Some scientists even believe that this might be where life began on Earth.
New material might pass into the oceans both from above and below. It is thought that Europa’s rocky interior might slowly churn, exposing new material to any life present in the ocean. Additionally, above the icy shell could transport molecules on Europa’s surface downwards into the ocean.
The main science goal of Europa Clipper is to determine whether there are places below the surface of Europa that could support life. In order to achieve this goal there are three main science objectives. To understand the nature of the ice shell, the ocean beneath it and finally the composition and geology of the moon. Europa clippers detailed exploration of the moon will enable scientist to improve our understanding of the astrobiological potential for other habitable worlds. This mission is the first dedicated to exploring a world with a global ocean besides Earth.
Europa Clipper will carry dozens of close flybys of Europa, from a long looping orbit around Jupiter, gathering detailed measurements to investigate the moon. Each flyby will soar over a different location to scan nearly the entire moon.
Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever built for any planetary mission. It is about 5m tall and when the huge solar array is deployed the spacecraft will span more than 30.5m, longer than a basketball court! These huge solar arrays are needed as at Jupiter the power from the Sun is much lower and Jutiper is more than five times further from the Sun than the Earth is. Europa Clipper is also very heavy, weighing 3241kg (without any propellant in the tanks).
The moon Europa orbits Jupiter within a band of powerful radiation, which is generated by Jupiter’s strong magnetic field. Europa Clipper has been designed to withstand this high intensity radiation. The payload and electronics are enclosed in a thick-walled vault. This method was successfully used by a previous Jupiter mission, Juno. The walls of the vault are made of titanium and aluminium, this creates a radiation shield protecting the spacecraft from most of the high-energy atomic particles. Thus, extending the spacecraft’s lifespan as it slows the degradation of the electronics.
There is a collection of scientific instruments onboard. Firstly two sets of cameras which operate at different wavelengths — the Europa Thermal Emission Imaging System (E-THEMIS) and the Europa Imaging System (EIS). These will map the moon’s surface and search for plumes. There is also the SUrface Dust Analyser (SUDA) which will look for small particles that have been ejected from Europa, as these could trace potential plumes. Lastly, three spectrometers called the Europa Ultraviolet Spectrograph (Europa-UVS), the Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE), and the Mass Spectrometer for Planetary Exploration (MASPEX) will investigate Europa’s surface and atmosphere’s composition to get a sense of the composition of its hidden ocean.
There is also radar which will penetrate the ice, mapping Europa’s lakes and searching for subsurface water. The Europa Clipper Magnetometer (ECM) and Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding (PIMS) will work in partnership to measure the magnetic properties, which will hopefully provide evidence of potential subsurface ocean and deep interior. Additionally, there is a thermal instrument to search for locations of warmer ice and potential recent eruptions of water, and instruments which will measure the composition of tiny particles in Europa’s thin atmosphere.
Europa Clipper has a huge 3m high-gain antenna to beam data from Europa back to Earth. However, they will also be used for scientific investigations. Small changes in radio transmissions caused by the Doppler effect, will mean that spacecrafts motion can be measured and thus learn about the structure and gravity of the moon.
Additionally, Europa Clipper will search for potential locations for future space missions to land on the moon.
NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Oct. 14, 2024. However, it won’t arrive at Jupiter until 2030. The spacecraft will orbit Jupiter rather than Europa to minimize the time the spacecraft is within the intense radiation field. Europa Clipper will periodically glide through Jupiter’s intense radiation field and fly by Europa to collect data and then fly away again. This strategy combined with the thick vault means the spacecraft can last for approximately 3.5 years rather than just days or months, and will complete 40 flybys of Europa.
14 October 2024 – Launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
February 2025 – Mars Flyby within 300 to 600 miles of the surface. The spacecraft can then use Mars’s gravity to accelerate toward Jupiter.
December 2026 – Earth Flyby about 2,000 miles of Earth to give the spacecraft its second gravity assist.
April 2030 – Will enter Orbit around Jupiter
October 2030 – Shaping Spacecraft Orbit – using multiple flybys of Jupiter’s Galilean moons, to reduce the spacecraft’s orbit to the desired resonance with Europa’s orbit.
May 2031 – First Europa Flyby – first science campaign begins, with repeated flybys of Europas anti-Jovian side (facing away from Jupiter).
May 2033 – Second Science Campaign Begins, concentrating flybys over the hemisphere facing toward Jupiter (it’s sub-Jovian side).
September 2034 – Possible End of Mission: Ganymede Impact
NASA’s Europa Clipper space mission has just launched to Europa, Jupiter’s icy moon. It launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on the 14th October 2024, but will take 6 years to reach Jupiter. The main science goal of the mission is to investigate whether Europa, could harbour conditions suitable for life, potentially in an under water ocean. The spacecraft will orbit around Jupiter, and flyby Europa about 50 times. The closest of these will skim Europa’s surface at an altitude of only about 16 miles.
This post was written by Dr Heather Campbell for Mission Astro.
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