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Europa Clipper Is On The Way To Jupiter!
🕑 Added 2024-10-14 23:32:11 +0000 UTCI've talked about this mission and this spacecraft a lot lately, and here is the launch - with commentary. Enjoy!
Comments
Donald J Arndt
Great reporting again Fran. Thank you
Fran Blanche
They mentioned in a press interview that the spacecraft is not intended to last forever, just for the duration of the mission. It's always a crap shoot out there!
David Peaker
I always find these outer planet missions exciting, but with my advancing years I have to hope to still be around to see the outcome.
Bob Pockney
I thought it was using gravity assist, first from Mars then Earth.
SingularCurve
Especially in a Ring system. All of our Gas Giant planets have ring systems. Ring systems are a large collection of dust and other particles with shepherd moons drawing them all towards the moons. Much like how the formation of the solar system is theorized to have formed. aka Earth is a "shepherd moon" of Sol III (the sun) it has just mostly cleared its orbit. By mostly I mean we still have regular meteor showers, where we pass through dust clouds in our orbit and bring more orbital and near orbital particles to our planet. Europa, Io, Calisto, and Ganymede are so far the largest of these type of moons in Jupiter orbit. Since Europa Clipper is a "flyby" mission of Europa, that is a very valid concern. Im sure NASA has over engineered the crap out of that probe with at least triple redundancies so that Micro Meteorite Strikes will be minimally destructive over all during the life of the mission. I think the radiation damage to the mosfets is a much bigger concern to NASA.
CPJ
If the solar panels are so large wont they be subject to micto-metrortie strikes?
SingularCurve
No gravity assist? They are not using a similar flight plan to Voyager 1 & 2 with gravity assist through Mars Orbit? Hmnnn Thats interesting ballistically. Have our boys and girls at NASA learned of a better Ballistic Path to Europa for Europa Clipper? Im rather happy to see another successful "raft" launch of a probe.
