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On Oct. 14, NASA’s groundbreaking Europa Clipper mission launched from Launch Complex 39A on the Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Falcon Heavy’s 27 Merlin engines and single vacuum-optimized Merlin engine despatched Europa Clipper on a trajectory out of the Earth-Moon system at a pace of roughly 35 km/s relative to the Sun.
Over a month and a half into its mission, Europa Clipper is round 20 million km from Earth. Following its separation from the Falcon Heavy higher stage and preliminary communications and well being checks, groups started working to deploy Europa Clipper’s suite of devices. Thus far, two devices have been deployed and can keep deployed all through the remainder of the mission, in addition to various spacecraft parts wanted for operations in house.
While the 20 million km the spacecraft has traveled to date could seem to be fairly the journey, by the point Europa Clipper reaches Jupiter, it can have traveled over 2.9 billion km all through the photo voltaic system and have carried out two flybys of Mars and Earth. Once at Jupiter, the spacecraft will execute 49 flybys of Europa to characterize and examine the icy moon in excessive element, doubtlessly revealing a world that options the circumstances wanted for all times.
Diagram of the Europa Clipper spacecraft and its devices. (Credit: Caltech)
However, these essential science observations gained’t start till the spacecraft is at Jupiter. Currently, groups are receiving solely engineering knowledge from the spacecraft, which tells them the well being of the spacecraft and the way its numerous elements are adjusting to house. Thus far, groups have confirmed that every thing on the spacecraft is wholesome and performing as anticipated.
The first main spacecraft part to be deployed was Europa Clipper’s huge photo voltaic arrays, which, when prolonged, span the size of a basketball courtroom. The deployment of the photo voltaic arrays was a essential second for the mission’s groups, because the spacecraft couldn’t carry out its mission with out their energy. Fortunately, the arrays absolutely deployed as anticipated and are producing energy for the spacecraft.
After photo voltaic array deployment, the spacecraft’s magnetometer increase deployed. The increase prolonged from a small canister mounted on the facet of the spacecraft bus and uncoiled to eight.5 m away from the spacecraft. Mission groups seemed on the knowledge from three sensors on the increase to substantiate that it deployed as supposed. These three sensors might be used to substantiate the presence of a subsurface ocean at Europa and supply scientists with particulars on its depth, salinity, and different traits.
Next was the deployment of a number of antennas utilized by the spacecraft’s radar instrument. These 4 high-frequency antennas prolonged crosswise from the photo voltaic arrays, showing as two lengthy poles that every measure 17.6 m lengthy. Additionally, eight very-high-frequency rectangular antennas have been deployed, every measuring 2.76 m lengthy. Two of those eight very-high-frequency antennas are situated on the photo voltaic arrays.
“It’s an thrilling time on the spacecraft, getting these key deployments executed. Most of what the workforce is specializing in now’s understanding the small, attention-grabbing issues within the knowledge that assist them perceive the habits of the spacecraft on a deeper degree. That’s actually good to see,” stated Europa Clipper venture supervisor Jordan Evans of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California.
With the magnetometer increase and radar instrument now deployed, seven devices await deployment/commissioning by mission groups. These devices might be repeatedly powered on and off all through the following few weeks in order that engineers can affirm their well being and efficiency. Some of those devices, such because the seen imager and gasoline and mud mass spectrometer, gained’t be absolutely deployed for the following three years to guard their elements from injury from the Sun as Europa Clipper travels by means of the interior photo voltaic system.
Once each instrument and spacecraft system has been checked out and confirmed wholesome, groups will start getting ready for Europa Clipper’s first flyby — a flyby of Mars on March 1, 2025. The flyby will function a gravity help maneuver, throughout which Europa Clipper will use Mars’ gravity to extend its velocity, which, in flip, will increase its orbit’s furthest level from the Sun and brings its trajectory nearer to Jupiter’s orbit.
In preparation for the flyby, groups have already had the spacecraft carry out a single course correction maneuver to make sure Europa Clipper is on the proper trajectory to Mars. Once at Mars, mission scientists will use the flyby as a possibility to substantiate that their devices are working as anticipated. Specifically, the thermal imager and radar instrument might be examined throughout this primary flyby.
Europa Clipper’s Mars flyby is the primary of two flybys the spacecraft will carry out on its method to Jupiter. The spacecraft is ready to carry out a flyby of Earth in December 2026, throughout which its magnetometer instrument will measure Earth’s magnetic discipline.
(Lead picture: Artist’s rendering of Europa Clipper at Europa. Credit: NASA)
