Jupiter 'Ocean Moon' Mission: Testing Europa Clipper’s Magnetometer | NASA/JPL

Jupiter 'Ocean Moon' Mission: Testing Europa Clipper’s Magnetometer | NASA/JPL

Join team members from NASA’s Europa Clipper mission in a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to learn about testing of the spacecraft’s magnetometer, which will help scientists answer the question, “Does Europa have an ocean?” 

The magnetometer is made up of a long, 28-foot (6.5-meter) boom and three fluxgate sensors, which are compressed in a canister on the side of the spacecraft until the boom is deployed after launch. The electronics for the instrument are contained in the vault of the spacecraft, along with electronics for the other science instruments. 

Europa Clipper will explore this icy moon of Jupiter to see if there are conditions suitable for life. Scientists have evidence that a global ocean lies under the moon’s surface, and the mission aims to confirm the existence of the ocean.

The spacecraft needs to be hardy enough to survive a 1.6-billion-mile, six-year journey to Jupiter – and sophisticated enough to perform a detailed science investigation of Europa once it arrives at the Jupiter system in 2030.

Europa Clipper is expected to launch in October 2024 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

For more information on the mission go to: https://europa.nasa.gov/

Download Europa Clipper Ocean World poster: go.nasa.gov/3Gsjzt5

Missions such as Europa Clipper contribute to the field of astrobiology, the interdisciplinary research on the variables and conditions of distant worlds that could harbor life as we know it. While Europa Clipper is not a life-detection mission, it will conduct detailed reconnaissance of Europa and investigate whether the icy moon, with its subsurface ocean, has the capability to support life. Understanding Europa’s habitability will help scientists better understand how life developed on Earth and the potential for finding life beyond our planet.

Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with APL for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Duration: 2 minutes, 49 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 9, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Jupiter #Europa #Moon #OceanMoon #Astrobiology #Biosignatures #Habitability #Radiation #EuropaClipper #EuropaClipperSpacecraft #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #APL #Marshall #MSFC #JPL #Caltech #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video