Technicians and engineers utilize a crane to raise the core of NASAs Europa Clipper spacecraft in the High Bay 1 clean room of JPLs Spacecraft Assembly Facility. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Several of Europa Clippers science instruments have actually already been finished and will be installed on the spacecraft at JPL. Most recently, the plasma-detection instrument, called the Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding, and the Europa Imaging System wide-angle camera showed up from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), in Laurel, Maryland. Additionally, the thermal-emission imaging instrument, called E-THEMIS, and the ultraviolet spectrograph, Europa-UVS, have already been set up on the spacecrafts nadir deck, which will support a number of the instrument sensing units by supporting them to guarantee they are oriented correctly.
Engineers and professionals utilize a crane to position the core of NASAs Europa Clipper spacecraft during a maneuver to place it in the High Bay 1 clean room of JPLs Spacecraft Assembly Facility. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Fabricated at JPL, this key piece of hardware will soon move into the Spacecraft Assembly Facilitys High Bay 1. This is the exact same tidy space where historic missions such as Galileo, Cassini, and all of NASAs Mars rovers were built.
Moving soon to High Bay 1 will be the aluminum electronic devices vault, which will be bolted to the primary body of the spacecraft. It will safeguard the electronics inside from Jupiters extreme radiation. The electronics allow Europa Clippers computer system to communicate with the spacecrafts antennae, science instruments, and the subsystems that will keep them alive.
Europa Clippers vault, with the nadir deck connected, is prepared for a move to the High Bay 1 tidy room of the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at JPL. The vault will secure the spacecrafts electronic devices, while the nadir deck will offer a stable platform for science instruments. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Bright copper cabling snakes around the orbiters aluminum core. It consists of countless wires and connectors handcrafted at APL. If placed end to end, the cabling would stretch nearly 2,100 feet (640 meters)– enough to twist around a U.S. football field twice.
Inside the core are Europa Clippers 2 propulsion tanks. The fuel and oxidizer theyll hold will flow to a range of 24 engines, where they will develop a regulated chemical reaction to produce embed deep space.
This time-lapse video follows NASAs Europa Clipper spacecraft throughout its carefully choreographed relocation into the High Bay 1 clean space the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at JPL. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
By the end of 2022, many of the flight hardware and the rest of the science instruments are anticipated to be complete. Then, the next actions will be a variety of tests as the spacecraft moves towards its 2024 launch duration. After taking a trip for almost 6 years and over 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers), it will accomplish orbit around Jupiter in 2030.
More About the Mission
Missions such as Europa Clipper contribute to the field of astrobiology. This interdisciplinary research field that studies the conditions of far-off worlds that might harbor life as we understand it. While Europa Clipper is not a life-detection objective, it will carry out a comprehensive exploration of Europa and examine whether the icy moon, with its subsurface ocean, has the ability of supporting life. Understanding Europas habitability will help allow researchers to better comprehend how life developed in the world and the potential for discovering life beyond our world.
Handled by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California, JPL leads the advancement of the Europa Clipper mission in collaboration with APL for NASAs Science Mission Directorate in Washington. APL created the main spacecraft body in cooperation with JPL and NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, executes program management of the Europa Clipper objective.
Artists making of NASAs Europa Clipper spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Europa Clipper spacecraft will occupy the primary production facility of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) as it gets ready for its 2024 launch to Jupiters icy moon Europa.
The core of NASAs Europa Clipper spacecraft has taken spotlight in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at JPL in Southern California. Standing 10 feet (3 meters) high and 5 feet (1.5 meters) large, the crafts main body will be the focus of attention in the facilitys ultra-hygienic High Bay 1 for the next two years as specialists and engineers put together the spacecraft. Its set up for launch to Jupiters moon Europa in October 2024.
Standing 10 feet (3 meters) high, the core of NASAs Europa Clipper will be the focus of attention in High Bay 1 of JPLs storied Spacecraft Assembly Facility, as engineers and specialists put together the spacecraft for a 2024 launch. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Researchers believe the ice-enveloped moon harbors a vast internal ocean that may harbor conditions ideal for supporting life. During nearly 50 flybys of Europa, the spacecrafts suite of science instruments will gather information on the moons surface area, atmosphere, and interior. Scientists will use that details to determine the depth and salinity of the ocean, the thickness of the ice crust, and possible plumes that might be venting subsurface water into area.
The core of NASAs Europa Clipper spacecraft has taken center phase in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at JPL in Southern California. During nearly 50 flybys of Europa, the spacecrafts suite of science instruments will gather data on the moons interior, surface area, and environment. Numerous of Europa Clippers science instruments have already been finished and will be installed on the spacecraft at JPL. The electronics allow Europa Clippers computer to interact with the spacecrafts antennae, science instruments, and the subsystems that will keep them alive.
Europa Clippers vault, with the nadir deck connected, is prepared for a move to the High Bay 1 clean room of the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at JPL.