The Europa Clipper Mission and its Final Stretch to Launch

Abstract

Scheduled to launch in October 2024, NASA’s Europa Clipper will set out on a journey to explore the habitability of Jupiter’s icy ocean world Europa. After a 5.5 yr cruise that includes gravity assists at Mars and Earth, the spacecraft will enter orbit around Jupiter and will perform nearly 50 flybys of Europa over a four-year period. To explore Europa as an integrated system and achieve a complete picture of its habitability, the Europa Clipper mission has three main science objectives to characterize: (1) the ice shell and ocean including their heterogeneity, properties, and surface–ice–ocean exchange; (2) Europa’s composition including any non-ice materials on the surface and in the atmosphere, and any carbon-containing compounds; and (3) Europa’s geology including surface features and localities of high science interest. Additionally, several cross-cutting science topics will be investigated through searching for any current or recent activity in the form of thermal anomalies and plumes, performing geodetic and radiation measurements, and assessing high-resolution, co-located observations at select sites to provide reconnaissance for a potential future landed mission. These science objectives will be accomplished using a highly capable suite of remote-sensing and in-situ instruments. The remote sensing payload consists of the Europa Ultraviolet Spectrograph (Europa-UVS), the Europa Imaging System (EIS) consisting of a wide and a narrow angle camera (WAC, NAC), the Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE), the Europa Thermal Imaging System (E-THEMIS), and the Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON). The in-situ instruments are the Europa Clipper Magnetometer (ECM), the Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding (PIMS), the SUrface Dust Analyzer (SUDA), and the MAss Spectrometer for Planetary Exploration (MASPEX). Gravity and radio science will be obtained using the spacecraft's telecommunication system, and valuable scientific data will be acquired by the spacecraft’s radiation monitoring system. Assembly, test, and launch operations (ATLO) of the Europa Clipper spacecraft are progressing well, and the flight system integration and environmental testing has been completed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Currently, the flight system is undergoing operations testing, and in May 2024, the spacecraft will be shipped to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. There, the remaining integration activities will occur for the solar array and REASON antennas followed by final flight system tests. The launch period begins on 10 October 2024. To provide details on the mission’s instruments and planned investigations, the Europa Clipper science team is publishing manuscripts in a special issue of Space Science Reviews, and the team continues to work towards optimizing science return through preparation of the mission’s Strategic Science Planning Guide. As well, collaborative science opportunities with ESA’s JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission, which will overlap in its tour period at Jupiter and make observations of Europa, are being discussed informally among the science teams. Onward to Europa!