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Missions › Europa Clipper

Europa Clipper

Illustration of spacecraft flying over moon with Jupiter behind. — Artist's concept of Europa Clipper over Jupiter's moon Europa. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Goals	Europa Clipper will search for signs of potential habitability on Jupiter's icy ocean moon Europa.
Proposed Launch	TBD (2020s)
Science Target	Europa
Type	Orbiter
Agency	NASA / Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Mission Website	https://europa.nasa.gov

Additional Resources

NASA Europa Clipper News Portal

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Ocean Worlds Resources

Ocean Worlds Resources

The new research supports the longstanding idea that water could potentially erupt above the surface of Europa.

NASA Study Suggests Shallow Lakes in Europa's Icy Crust Could Erupt

NASA Study Suggests Shallow Lakes in Europa's Icy Crust Could Erupt

The spacecraft’s pass of the moon provided the first close-up in over two decades of this ocean world.

NASA's Juno Gets Highest-Resolution Close-Up of Jupiter's Moon Europa

NASA's Juno Gets Highest-Resolution Close-Up of Jupiter's Moon Europa

Juno has provided the first close-up images of Europa in over two decades.

NASA's Juno Shares First Image From Flyby of Jupiter's Moon Europa

NASA's Juno Shares First Image From Flyby of Jupiter's Moon Europa

From deep below the soil at Earth’s polar regions to Pluto’s frozen heart, ice exists all over the solar system...and beyond.

Frozen: Ice on Earth and Well Beyond

Frozen: Ice on Earth and Well Beyond

The agency’s mission to explore Jupiter’s icy moon takes a big step forward as engineers deliver a major component of the spacecraft.

NASA's Europa Clipper Mission Completes Main Body of the Spacecraft

NASA's Europa Clipper Mission Completes Main Body of the Spacecraft

E-THEMIS is an infrared camera designed to map temperatures across Europa’s surface.

Europa Clipper's Thermal Imager Delivered to JPL

Europa Clipper's Thermal Imager Delivered to JPL

Science instruments and other hardware for the spacecraft will come together in the mission’s final phase before a launch to Europa in 2024.

NASA Begins Assembly of Europa Clipper Spacecraft

NASA Begins Assembly of Europa Clipper Spacecraft

Missions like NASA’s Europa Clipper are a complex balancing act of meeting scientific and technical requirements.

Mission Dispatch: Systems Engineering for Europa Clipper

Mission Dispatch: Systems Engineering for Europa Clipper

Europa Clipper will need to know its orientation while traveling from Earth to Jupiter and in orbit around Jupiter. To accomplish this, it will use the stars.

Europa Mission Dispatch: Tracking the Stars

Europa Mission Dispatch: Tracking the Stars

Deploying a new space telescope; deflecting an asteroid with a spacecraft; and visiting a metal-rich asteroid. NASA has a busy 2022 calendar.

10 Things to Watch for in Planetary Science for 2022

10 Things to Watch for in Planetary Science for 2022

Finding plumes at Europa is an exciting prospect, but scientists warn it’ll be tricky, even from up close.

Are Water Plumes Spraying from Europa? NASA's Europa Clipper is on the Case

Are Water Plumes Spraying from Europa? NASA's Europa Clipper is on the Case

NASA scientists are calling for a framework that provides context for findings related to the search for life.

Are We Alone in the Universe? NASA Calls for New Framework

Are We Alone in the Universe? NASA Calls for New Framework

Hubble observations of Europa have revealed the presence of persistent water vapor – but, mysteriously, only in one hemisphere.

Hubble Finds Evidence of Persistent Water Vapor in One Hemisphere of Europa

Hubble Finds Evidence of Persistent Water Vapor in One Hemisphere of Europa

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Full Moon Guide: September - October 2021

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NASA has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for Earth’s first mission to conduct detailed investigations of Jupiter's moon Europa.

NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for Europa Clipper Mission

NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for Europa Clipper Mission

The next full Moon goes by many names including the Buck Moon.

Full Moon Guide: July – August 2021

Full Moon Guide: July – August 2021

Scientists are studying the effects of small impacts on Europa’s surface as they prepare to explore the distant moon with the Europa Clipper.

Surface of Jupiter's Moon Europa Churned by Small Impacts

Surface of Jupiter's Moon Europa Churned by Small Impacts

Some places on Earth are so extreme that NASA uses them as stand-ins for other worlds. These locations are called planetary analogs.

10 Things to Know About Planetary Analogs

10 Things to Know About Planetary Analogs

Jupiter’s moon Europa has an icy crust covering a global ocean. The rocky layer beneath may be hot enough to melt, leading to undersea volcanoes.

Europa's Interior May Be Hot Enough to Fuel Seafloor Volcanoes

Europa's Interior May Be Hot Enough to Fuel Seafloor Volcanoes

Terrain-relative navigation helped Perseverance land – and Ingenuity fly – on Mars. Now it’s time to test a similar system while exploring another frontier.

Robotic Navigation Tech Will Explore the Deep Ocean

Robotic Navigation Tech Will Explore the Deep Ocean

A technique for scanning Mars rocks for microscopic fossils is also being developed to hunt for microbes on Enceladus, Titan, and Europa.

Probing for Life in the Icy Crusts of Ocean Worlds

Probing for Life in the Icy Crusts of Ocean Worlds

The spacecraft will use multiple flybys of the moon to investigate the habitability of this ocean world.

NASA's Europa Clipper Builds Hardware, Moves Toward Assembly

NASA's Europa Clipper Builds Hardware, Moves Toward Assembly

10 Things to Expect in Planetary Science for 2021

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10 Things to Expect in Planetary Science for 2021

Plumes of water vapor that may be venting into space from Jupiter's moon Europa could come from within the icy crust itself, according to new research.

Potential Plumes on Europa Could Come From Water in the Crust

Potential Plumes on Europa Could Come From Water in the Crust

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