Along with the science instruments and hardware needed for NASA’s Europa Clipper’s long journey to the Jovian system, the spacecraft also continues the long legacy of NASA spacecraft carrying inspirational messages from Earth, including the Pioneer Plaque, the Voyager Golden Record, and engravings carried aboard NASA’s Mars rovers. The original poem “In Praise of Mystery: …
SpaceX confirms that fueling for the second stage of the Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the Europa Clipper spacecraft is underway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Comprising three Falcon 9 nine-engine cores, the 27 Merlin engines of the Falcon Heavy combine to generate more than 5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, equal to …
As NASA’s largest planetary spacecraft heads to the solar system’s largest planet to study one of its moons, let’s take a closer look inside the numbers of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission. 9 — The spacecraft carries nine science instruments and a gravity experiment that uses the telecommunications system. All the science instruments will operate simultaneously …
Moments ago, mission teams polled “go” to begin fueling the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The Falcon Heavy is a two-stage rocket with a central core and two side boosters that uses RP-1 (a refined kerosene) and liquid oxygen (LOX) to fuel its 27 Merlin engines, which combine to generate 5 million pounds of thrust. Loading …
NASA just ramped up its coverage of today’s Europa Clipper launch, as the live broadcast with commentary has now begun, and you can watch coverage on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media. Watch NASA launch coverage in Spanish on NASA+ and NASA’s Spanish YouTube channel. The …
The nine science instruments on NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft are the most advanced and sensitive that have ever been sent the outer solar system: Europa Imaging System (EIS) is a wide-angle camera and a narrow-angle camera, each with an eight-megapixel sensor, that will produce high-resolution color and stereoscopic images of Europa. They will study geologic …
NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft is the largest the agency has ever built for a planetary mission. Data from previous NASA missions has provided scientists with strong evidence that an enormous salty ocean lies underneath the frozen surface of Europa. Europa Clipper will orbit Jupiter and make nearly 50 flybys of Europa to determine the thickness …
We’re a little under two hours away from today’s launch of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Here’s a closer look at some of today’s important countdown and ascent milestones (all times are approximate): Time Events – 00:53:00 …
Though NASA’s Europa Clipper mission sounds like something out of science fiction — investigating an icy alien world to see if it has the ingredients for life — the main science goal of determining if there are places below the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa that could support life is based in science fact. …
We remain a “go” for launch, with the latest weather update from the U.S. Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron predicting a 95% chance of favorable weather today for liftoff. The primary weather concern for the launch area is the cumulus cloud rule. Teams continue targeting liftoff of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission at 12:06 p.m. EDT …
