NASA confirms that the Jupiter-bound Europa Clipper spacecraft has successfully completed a crucial maneuver. He can continue his journey peacefully.
All eyes are on the return of Man to the Moon, or even the upcoming conquest of the planet Mars. Well, almost all of them. Some see much further, towards Jupiter and more precisely its Moon Europa. On October 14, the spaceship Europa Clipper took off without incident using a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket for a long journey 2.9 billion kilometers which will last approximately 6 years. It should arrive within sight of the gas giant in 2030 if all goes well.
In the meantime, the machine will not be twiddling its thumbs. While he has just exceeded the 20 million kilometers traveled from EarthEuropa Clipper embarked on a procedure which, if unsuccessful, would have jeopardized the entire mission. Fortunately, it went well: the ship's first scientific measuring instruments have been deployed. They will remain so for the entire duration of the journey.
Europa Clipper completes an important maneuver during its journey to Jupiter
Europa Clipper has thus deployed the arrow of its magnetometerwith a length of 8.5 m. The rod unfurled from a canister attached to the body of the ship. The 3 magnetometer sensors sent data confirming the success of the operation. Then, 4 radar antennas took place perpendicular to the 2 solar panels which make Clipper larger than a basketball court. You can see them in the image which serves as an illustration for this article. They are each 17.6 m long.
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“Completing these key deployments is an exciting time for the spacecraft“, enthuses Jordan Evans, Europa Clipper project manager. “Currently, the team is mostly focused on understanding the interesting little bits of the data that help them understand the spacecraft's behavior at a deeper level.“. Other steps are in fact planned before Europa Clipper is fully operational.
What will Europa Clipper look for on Jupiter's Moon?
There remain 7 other instruments to be put into operation between December 2024 and January 2025. Some, such as the spectrometers allowinganalyze masses of gas and dust will still keep their protective layer for approximately 3 years in order to avoid possible damage caused by the Sun. After confirmation that everything works, Clipper will head towards… Mars. On March 1, 2025, the spacecraft will reach the orbit of the red planet, will carry out test measurements, and above all will use the star's gravity to gain speed.
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It will then return to Earth in December 2026 for a second boost before finally launching straight towards Jupiter. The choice of the Europa Moon is of course not a coincidence: it has a good chance of harboring life. The satellite with its frozen crust has an underground ocean and, according to simulations carried out on Earth, would meet the conditions for living organisms to develop there. A hypothesis that scientists will confirm or not following the 49 planned flybys.
In total, Europa Clipper has 3 main missions: determine the thickness of Europa's crust, study its interactions with the underground ocean, then define its composition and geology. The long-term goal is to better understand to what extent the worlds of our solar system are habitable by humans.
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