The Europa Clipper Astrobiology Spacecraft Is Truly Immense
In this image a single human is seen standing next to an immense space droid, Europa Clipper. This is the largest planetary exploration spacecraft that NASA has ever created. And it will search for evidence that the conditions for life exist on the ice-covered ocean world Europa.
Europa Clipper will conduct the first detailed investigations of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. The spacecraft will orbit Jupiter and make nearly 50 flybys of Europa to determine whether there are places below Europa’s surface that could support life.
With its solar arrays deployed, Europa Clipper spans more than 100 feet / 30 meters – about the length of a basketball court. The main body of the spacecraft consists of its avionics vault, radiofrequency module, and propulsion module.
At launch, Europa Clipper will weigh approximately 13,000 pounds / 6,000 kilograms. Almost half of the weight will be fuel – nearly 6,000 pounds / 2,750 kilograms of propellant.
Astrobiology
