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Europa Clipper

Europa Clipper
Launch Date TBD (2020s)
Launch Site Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA
Destination Europa
Type Orbiter
Status In Development
Nation United States
Alternate Names

Goals

Conduct detailed reconnaissance of Jupiter's moon Europa to see whether the icy moon could harbor conditions suitable for life. The mission will carry a highly capable, radiation-tolerant spacecraft that will perform repeated close flybys of the icy moon from a long, looping orbit around Jupiter.

Accomplishments

This mission is in development.

The search for life beyond Earth needs robots. But to explore distant ocean worlds like Europa, we’ll need a new set of tools to drill through ice, reach faraway samples and cross difficult terrain.

Spacecraft

Launch Vehicle: TBD

Spacecraft Mass: TBD

Spacecraft Instruments:

  1. Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding (PIMS)
  2. Interior Characterization of Europa using MAGnetometry (ICEMAG)
  3. Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE)
  4. Europa Imaging System (EIS)
  5. Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON)
  6. Europa THermal Emission Imaging System (E-THEMIS)
  7. MAss SPectrometer for Planetary EXploration/Europa (MASPEX)
  8. Ultraviolet Spectrograph/Europa (UVS)

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