NASA has been preparing for their Europa Clipper mission since 2013, when the mission’s pre-project was approved. The spacecraft is roughly the length of a basketball court, making it the largest ever developed for a planetary mission. It weighs 13,000 pounds, and uses huge solar arrays for power, which make it 100 feet long.
The Clipper will investigate the habitability of Jupiter's moon Europa. In doing so, it will help us learn more about the details of Europa, such as the thickness of the ice layer and the depth of the ocean, the chemistry of the ocean (e.g., pH and salinity), whether pockets of liquid water are perched in the ice shell, how material can be transported from the surface to the ocean below, and much more. The Clipper mission will be the first NASA mission dedicated to studying an ocean world.
NASA has been preparing for their Europa Clipper mission since 2013, when the mission’s pre-project was approved. The spacecraft is roughly the length of a basketball court, making it the larg… Read moreNASA’s Europa Clipper headed to study an ocean world
Looking up at the moon in the night sky, it’s difficult to grasp just how dramatic the topography of its surface really is. But for David Kring, the reality of that terrain isn’t too hard to imagine. Read moreNew research highlights scale of moon's canyons
Climate change affects everything, and now we are beginning to see its reach. Last week Antarctica was setting records with an extended heatwave 50 degrees warmer than normal. On Aug. 7, Fort … Read moreSpotlight on Climate: Around the world in 80 ways
