NASA - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration
10/04/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 10/04/2024 14:12
Teams Hold Flight Readiness Review for NASA’s Europa Clipper
Technicians encapsulated NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft inside payload fairings on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
NASA, SpaceX, and Europa Clipper mission managers met Friday, Oct. 4, to conduct a Flight Readiness Review at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the review, teams provided an update on the mission's status and certified its readiness to initiate final launch preparation activities. Europa Clipper will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy.
Europa Clipper's main science goal is to determine whether there are places below the surface of Jupiter's icy moon, Europa, that could support life. The mission's main science objectives are to understand the nature of Europa's ice shell and the ocean beneath it, along with the moon's composition and geology. This detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.
Upon reaching its destination in 2030, Europa Clipper will perform dozens of close flybys of Jupiter's moon Europa, gathering detailed measurements to investigate the moon. The spacecraft, in orbit around Jupiter, will make closest-approach flybys at altitudes as low as 16 miles (25 kilometers) above the surface, soaring over a different location during each flyby to scan nearly the entire moon.
Europa Clipper's launch period opens at 12:31 p.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 10.
To learn more about the Europa Clipper mission, visit: