{"id":779665,"date":"2024-03-27T13:06:03","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T18:06:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=779665"},"modified":"2024-03-27T13:06:03","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T18:06:03","slug":"nasas-europa-clipper-survives-and-thrives-in-outer-space-on-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=779665","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Europa Clipper Survives and Thrives in \u2018Outer Space\u2019 on Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><em>A gantlet of tests prepared the spacecraft for its challenging trip to the Jupiter system, where it will explore the icy moon Europa and its subsurface ocean.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In less than six months, NASA is set to launch Europa Clipper on a 1.6-billion-mile (2.6-billion-kilometer) voyage to Jupiter\u2019s ocean moon Europa. From the wild vibrations of the rocket ride to the intense heat and cold of space to the punishing radiation of Jupiter, it will be a journey of extremes. The spacecraft was recently put through a series of hard-core tests at the agency\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California to ensure it\u2019s up to the challenge.<\/p>\n<p>Called environmental testing, the battery of trials simulates the environment that the spacecraft will face, subjecting it to shaking, chilling, airlessness, electromagnetic fields, and more.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese were the last big tests to find any flaws,\u201d said JPL\u2019s Jordan Evans, the mission\u2019s project manager. \u201cOur engineers executed a well-designed and challenging set of tests that put the system through its paces. What we found is that the spacecraft can handle the environments that it will see during and after launch. The system performed very well and operates as expected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The most recent environmental test for Europa Clipper was also one of the most elaborate, requiring 16 days to complete. The spacecraft is the largest NASA has ever built for a planetary mission and one of the largest ever to squeeze into JPL\u2019s historic 85-foot-tall, 25-foot-wide (26-meter-by-8-meter) thermal vacuum chamber (TVAC). Known as the 25-foot Space Simulator, the chamber creates a near-perfect vacuum inside to mimic the airless environment of space.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, engineers subjected the hardware to the high temperatures it will experience on the side of Europa Clipper that faces the Sun while the spacecraft is close to Earth. Beams from powerful lamps at the base of the Space Simulator bounced off a massive mirror at its top to mimic the heat the spacecraft will endure.<\/p>\n<p>To simulate the journey away from the Sun, the lamps were dimmed and liquid nitrogen filled tubes in the chamber walls to chill them to temperatures replicating space. The team then gauged whether the spacecraft could warm itself, monitoring it with about 500 temperature sensors, each of which had been attached by hand.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Europa Clipper Moves Into JPL\u2019s Space Simulator\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kvgcBP6uwdg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Watch as engineers and technicians move NASA\u2019s Europa Clipper into the thermal vacuum chamber at JPL in February 2024.<br \/>Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>TVAC marked the culmination of environmental testing, which included a regimen of tests to ensure the electrical and magnetic components that make up the spacecraft don\u2019t interfere with one another.<\/p>\n<p>The orbiter also underwent vibration, shock, and acoustics testing. During vibration testing, the spacecraft was shaken repeatedly \u2013 up and down and side to side \u2013 the same way it will be jostled aboard the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket during liftoff. Shock testing involved pyrotechnics to mimic the explosive jolt the spacecraft will get when it separates from the rocket to fly its mission. Finally, acoustic testing ensured that Europa Clipper can withstand the noise of launch, when the rumbling of the rocket is so loud it can damage the spacecraft if it\u2019s not sturdy enough.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere still is work to be done, but we\u2019re on track for an on-time launch,\u201d Evans said. \u201cAnd the fact that this testing was so successful is a huge positive and helps us rest more easily.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Later this spring, the spacecraft will be shipped to NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There, teams of engineers and technicians will carry out final preparations with eyes on the clock. Europa Clipper\u2019s launch period opens Oct. 10.<\/p>\n<p>After liftoff, the spacecraft will zip toward Mars, and in late February 2025, it will be close enough to use the Red Planet\u2019s gravitational force for added momentum. From there, the solar-powered spacecraft will swing back toward Earth to get another slingshot boost \u2013 from our own planet\u2019s gravitational field \u2013 in December 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Then it\u2019s on to the outer solar system, where Europa Clipper is set to arrive at Jupiter in 2030. The spacecraft will orbit the gas giant while it flies by Europa 49 times, dipping as close as 16 miles (25 kilometers) from the moon\u2019s surface to gather data with its powerful suite of science instruments. The information gathered will tell scientists more about the moon\u2019s watery interior.<\/p>\n<p>Europa Clipper\u2019s main science goal is to determine whether there are places below the surface of Jupiter\u2019s icy moon, Europa, that could support life. The mission\u2019s three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon\u2019s icy shell and its surface interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission\u2019s detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.<\/p>\n<p>Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, for NASA\u2019s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. APL designed the main spacecraft body in collaboration with JPL and NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission.<\/p>\n<p>Find more information about Europa here:<\/p>\n<p><strong>europa.nasa.gov<\/strong><strong\/><\/p>\n<p>Gretchen McCartney<br \/>Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.<br \/>818-393-6215<br \/>gretchen.p.mccartney@jpl.nasa.gov<\/p>\n<p>Karen Fox \/ Charles Blue<br \/>NASA Headquarters, Washington<br \/>301-286-6284 \/ 202-802-5345<br \/>karen.c.fox@nasa.gov \/ charles.e.blue@nasa.gov<\/p>\n<p>2024-032<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/missions\/europa-clipper\/nasas-europa-clipper-survives-and-thrives-in-outer-space-on-earth\/?rand=772114\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A gantlet of tests prepared the spacecraft for its challenging trip to the Jupiter system, where it will explore the icy moon Europa and its subsurface ocean. In less than&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":779666,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-779665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-NASA"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=779665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779665\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/779666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=779665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=779665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=779665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}