NASA is testing a prototype Europa Lander for a mission to Jupiter’s icy moon. The mission is called Europa Clipper and is scheduled to launch in October 2024. The spacecraft will arrive in 2030.
The mission’s goal is to determine if Europa can support life. The spacecraft will survey the moon to look for places below the surface that could support life. The spacecraft will also use a magnetometer to confirm the existence of an ocean, measure its depth and salinity, and measure the thickness of the moon’s ice shell.
The Europa Clipper will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will fly by Mars and then back by Earth, using the gravity of each planet to increase its momentum.
The spacecraft has a dry mass of 7,145 pounds (3241 kg)
Six robotic spacecraft have explored Europa:
- Voyager 1 and 2
- Galileo
- Juno
- Pioneer 10 and 11
- Cassini
- New Horizons
The most information comes from the Voyager 2 spacecraft, the Galileo orbiter, and the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Galileo spacecraft flew by Europa in 1998, coming within 2,226 miles. In 1997, the Galileo probe found that Europa has a magnetic field, which could be caused by a saltwater ocean.
The Voyager 2 spacecraft took photos of Europa in 1979.
The Hubble Space Telescope regularly checks up on Europa
NASA’s Europa Lander is a proposed mission to land on Europa and examine its icy surface and plumes. The lander would look for signs of life. The landing system for the Europa Lander is an evolution of hardware used on previous NASA lander missions.
NASA tested the landing system for the Europa Lander on August 17 and 18, 2023. If funded and developed, the Europa Lander would launch in 2027
Yes, the Europa Clipper mission includes a lander. The lander would complement the orbiter’s studies. The lander might include:
- Chemical analysis lab
- Microscope
- Camera
- Seismometer
NASA approved the Europa Clipper mission concept in June 2015 and the lander in January 2016. The Ocean Worlds Exploration Program, which includes the Europa mission, was approved in May 2016.
The Europa Lander mission would be the first landed mission to search for biosignatures on an ocean world
The Europa Clipper Magnetometer (ECM) will measure Europa’s magnetic field during fly-bys. This will help scientists confirm the existence of a subsurface ocean.
The Galileo spacecraft’s magnetometer experiment provided evidence of a salty ocean beneath Europa’s ice shell. The Galileo spacecraft orbited Jupiter from 1995 to 2003.
The ECM will also study Europa’s ionized atmosphere and how it interacts with Jupiter’s atmosphere
The Europa Clipper’s propulsion module is a large aluminum cylinder that’s 10 feet tall and 5 feet wide. It’s integrated with the spacecraft’s propulsion system, electronics, thermal loop tubing, cabling, and radios.
The spacecraft is solar-powered and will use large solar arrays to collect enough light for its power needs. The Jupiter system is more than five times as far from the Sun as Earth.
The Europa Clipper will orbit Jupiter in an elliptical orbit, making nearly 50 flybys of Europa. Its closest approach will be 25 kilometers (16 miles) above the surface.
The Europa Clipper will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The launch is scheduled for October 2024, during a 21-day launch window.
NASA selected SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy in 2021. The decision saved an estimated $2 billion. The Falcon Heavy’s trajectory design also allowed the Europa Clipper to take a more direct route to Jupiter.
The Europa Clipper will launch from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Europa Clipper will use a variety of instruments to study Europa’s surface and subsurface:
- Ice-penetrating radar: Maps the ice’s structure and thickness, and looks for reflections from the ocean.
- Magnetometer: Measures the ocean’s depth and salinity, and the strength and direction of Europa’s magnetic field.
- Color and infrared cameras: Map the surface in color and look for hot spots where the ocean may be seeping up through the ice.
- Mass Spectrometer for Planetary Exploration (MASPEX): Determines the composition of the surface and subsurface ocean.
- Spectrometers: Determine the chemical composition of the surface and Europa’s thin atmosphere.
- Thermal mapper: Surveys the frozen surface for recent eruptions of warmer water.
- Thermal imager: Measures the temperature and heat flow of the surface. The Europa Clipper will also study the moon’s surface elevations, composition, and roughness.
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