The sophisticated collection of instruments added to the spacecraft recently will help determine if Jupiter’s moon Europa has the potential to sustain life.
With less than nine months remaining until launch, NASA’s Europa Clipper mission has reached a significant milestone with the addition of its scientific instruments to the large spacecraft being constructed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
Scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida in October, the spacecraft will travel to the ice-covered moon Europa of Jupiter, where a salty ocean beneath the frozen surface may provide suitable conditions for life. Instead of landing, the spacecraft will orbit Jupiter for four years after reaching the Jupiter system in 2030, executing 49 flybys of Europa and utilizing its powerful suite of nine science instruments to explore the potential habitability of the moon.
“The instruments work together to address our most critical questions about Europa,” said Robert Pappalardo, the project scientist for the mission at JPL. “We will gain insight into the various aspects of Europa, from its core and rocky interior to its ocean and ice shell, as well as its extremely thin atmosphere and the surrounding space environment.”
The standout feature of Europa Clipper’s scientific investigation is the synchronized functioning of all the instruments while collecting data to achieve the mission’s scientific goals. During each flyby, the complete array of instruments will gather measurements and images that will be layered together to provide a comprehensive understanding of Europa.
Jupiter’s moon Europa is covered in ice and holds a large internal ocean that may have conditions suitable for life. NASA’s Europa Clipper mission will help scientists gain a deeper understanding of the potential for habitable worlds beyond our own. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“It would be more beneficial if we could obtain the observations simultaneously,” Pappalardo stated. “Our objective is to integrate the instruments so that we are utilizing all of them in unison to study Europa at any given time with no need to prioritize among them.”
Through the study of the environment around Europa, scientists will gain knowledge about the moon’s interior. The spacecraft is equipped with a magnetometer to measure the magnetic field around the moon. This data is crucial for understanding the ocean because the field is induced by the electrical conductivity of the ocean’s saltwater as Europa moves through Jupiter’s strong magnetic field. Also, an instrument will be used to analyze the plasma (charged particles) around Europa, which can distort magnetic fields. Together, they will ensure the most precise measurements possible.
Insights into Europa’s atmosphere will also provide information about the moon’s surface and interior. Despite the faint atmosphere, which has only 100 billionth the pressure of Earth’s atmosphere, scientists anticipate that it holds valuable clues about the moon. Telescopic observations from space and ground-based telescopes suggest the presence of water vapor plumes venting from beneath the moon’s surface, and previous missions have indicated that ice and dust particles are being ejected into space due to micrometeorite impacts.
Three instruments will aid in the examination of the atmosphere and its associated particles: A mass spectrometer will analyze gases, a surface dust analyzer will examine dust, and a spectrograph will collect ultraviolet light to search for plumes and identify changes in the dynamic atmosphere over time.
Simultaneously, Europa Clipper’s cameras will capture wide-angle and close-up images of the surface, providing the first high-resolution global map of Europa. Stereoscopic, color images will reveal any changes in the surface caused by geologic activity. Additionally, an imager that measures temperatures will help scientists identify warmer regions where water or recent ice deposits may be close to the surface.
An imaging spectrometer will map the ices, salts, and organic molecules on the moon’s surface. These advanced imaging tools will also support the full suite of instruments by capturing visuals that will provide context for the collected data.
Moreover, scientists need a better understanding of the ice shell itself. Estimated to be about 10 to 15 miles (15 to 25 kilometers) thick, this outer casing may be geologically active, leading to the visible fracture patterns on the surface. The mission will examine the ice shell, including searching for water within and beneath it, using a radar instrument. While the instrument’s electronics are currently on board the spacecraft, its antennas will be attached to the spacecraft’s solar arrays at Kennedy later this year.
Finally, Europa’s interior structure will be studied. Scientists will measure the moon’s gravitational field at various points in its orbit around Jupiter to gain insights into its interior. The spacecraft’s telecommunications equipment will be used for this scientific investigation.
With all nine instruments and the telecommunications system on board the spacecraft, the mission team has begun testing the complete spacecraft for the first time. Once Europa Clipper is fully tested, the craft will be shipped to Kennedy in preparation for launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
Europa Clipper’s primary scientific objective is to determine the existence of potentially habitable environments below the icy surface of Jupiter’s moon, Europa. The mission aims to achieve three main scientific objectives: to determine the thickness of the moon’s icy shell and its surface interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission’s thorough exploration of Europa will help scientists gain greater understanding of the potential for habitable worlds beyond Earth.
Find more information about Europa here:
europa.nasa.gov
Gretchen McCartney
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-6215
gretchen.p.mccartney@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Alana Johnson
NASA Headquarters, Washington
301-286-6284 / 202-358-1501
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov
2024-009
