In October, NASA plans to launch a spacecraft onto the icy marble called Europa, one of Jupiter’s 92 known moons. The real purpose of the probe? To help scientists understand this Europe can support life as we know it.
This robotic explorer is aptly named European ClipperAccording to the statement published by the agency on Tuesday, January 30, Clipper seems quite ready for its cosmic journey. In short, all nine science instruments and a telecommunications system were installed at the facility. Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California – in addition to my name (literally). But it’s a another story entirely.
The technology suite includes hardware such as a mass spectrometer to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of gas molecules on Europa, a surface dust analyzer, and an imaging spectrometer to study interactions between light and matter to map the moon’s ices. salts and organic molecules.
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Of course, Europa Clipper also has cameras. NASA He says he will take wide-angle and narrow-angle shots of the moon’s icy surface; We can expect some amazing color photographs to show us what it might be like to stand on a moon hundreds of millions of miles away from our planet.
This is quite intriguing because, besides the obvious reasons, getting new, detailed data about Europa’s surface could explain some of the puzzling things scientists have been seeing — such as a study suggesting NASA’s Juno spacecraft had been spotted working on Jupiter. Latest Event in the region.
Speaking of which, due to the incredibly large distance, Clipper Jupiter The spacecraft will orbit the giant planet for at least four years and will make 49 flybys of Europa during this time.
“The instruments are working hand in hand to answer our most pressing questions about Europa,” the mission’s project scientist, Robert Pappalardo, said in a statement. said. “We will learn what moves Europa, from its core and rocky interior to its ocean and ice shell, to its very thin atmosphere and environment. space environment.”
This mission sounds like a big deal because many scientists consider Europa to be one of the best places on our Earth. solar system to look for evidence of alien life. Like a salty subsurface ocean, it fulfills tons of requirements that a world needs to be capable of hosting life (at least as we know it). In fact, scientists are generally so excited by the concept of icy moons with subsurface oceans that they have even begun planning how to create cryobots that could one day make them happen.”burrow” under the frozen crust, allowing the crust to heal again. And just last year, James Webb Space Telescope managed to find evidence of carbon In the underground sea of Europe.
Moreover, it is possible water vapor plumes It radiates from the icy surface of Europa. This piece is vital to the Europa Clipper and has the potential to sample the Moon’s surface. (Clipper won’t land but is collecting data for a potential future European landing mission.)
To that end, the spacecraft will have a few tricks up its sleeve to study this tempting, buried ocean (imagine how you wish for it). “A spectrograph will collect ultraviolet light to look for plumes and determine how the properties of the dynamic atmosphere change over time timeIn the NASA statement, it is stated that there will also be a magnetometer on the ship.
“These data will be key to understanding the ocean because the field is created, or triggered, by the electrical conductivity of the ocean’s salt water as Europa passes through Jupiter’s powerful orbit.” Magnetic field” explains the publication. “Working together with the magnetometer is an instrument to analyze plasma (charged particles) that could disrupt magnetic fields around Europa.”
Meanwhile, a radar device will transmit radio waves to Europa’s surface and then watch for those waves to reflect off certain features, potentially on the icy ground and perhaps even within the ocean. Scientists can then measure how long it takes for the waves to return and therefore learn how far away these features are. All in all, this should provide a pretty solid picture of what Europa looks like underneath its frozen crust. The team says that the antennas required for this device will be placed on the ship later this year.
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There are a few more instruments that will contribute to the synergy in Europa Clipper; At the end of the day, the team says the key to this mission is for everything to work together, ultimately creating the best map yet of the exciting world of ice.
“The science would be better if we got the observations at the same time,” Pappalardo said. “We strive for integration so that at any given point we use all the instruments simultaneously to study Europa and do not have to compromise between them.”