Three months after its launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the agency’s Europa Clipper has another 1.6 billion miles (2.6 billion kilometers) to go before it reaches Jupiter’s […]
Europa Clipper
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Microbiology & Virology, Microgravity, Missions & Hardware, Panspermia, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Radiation, Status Report
Synergistic Interactions Among Vacuum, Solar Heating, and UV Irradiation Enhance the Lethality of Interplanetary Space
A Planetary Atmospheric Chamber (PAC) was used to create simulations of interplanetary conditions to test the spore survival of three Bacillus spp. exposed to interacting conditions of vacuum (VAC), simulated […]
Posted inCareer Opportunities, Conferences and Meetings, Courses, Education and Outreach, Europa, Missions & Hardware, Status Report
Europa ICONS: A STEM Internship for Undergraduate Students
The Europa ICONS program will pair Europa Clipper science team members with undergraduate students for a 10-week research experience during which the students will perform original scientific research.
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Illuminating The Mysteries Of Icy Ocean Worlds
As NASA’s Europa Clipper embarks on its historic journey to Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, Dr. Matt Powell-Palm, a faculty member at Texas A&M University’s J. Mike Walker ‘66 Department of […]
Posted inAriel, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Ganymede, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Miranda, Oberon, Status Report, Titania, Umbriel, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Detecting Planetary Oceans: Application To The Uranus System
The discovery of Europa’s subsurface ocean has spawned a strong desire by the planetary community to return and assess the ocean’s habitability using the magnetic induction signal that Europa generates.
Posted inAstrogeology, Europa, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
How REASON Will Penetrate Europa’s Surface
This artist’s concept illustrates how NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft will use radar to peer beneath Europa’s ice crust to reveal the structure underneath.
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Jupiter, Missions & Hardware, Status Report
Astrobiology Explorer Europa Clipper’s Trajectory To Jupiter
On its journey to the Jupiter system, NASA’s Europa Clipper will take a path that swings past Mars, then Earth, using the gravity of each planet as a slingshot to […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Assessing the Detectability of Europa’s Seafloor Topography from Europa Clipper’s Gravity Data
Due to its size and tidal heating, Europa may potentially possess active volcanism and hydrothermal circulation at its seafloor.
Posted inEuropa, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Jupiter, Microbiology & Virology, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Radiation, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Europa Clipper Planetary Protection Probabilistic Risk Assessment Summary
Protecting Jupiter’s Icy Moons from the Earth’s biological contamination is a key consideration for the Europa Clipper mission. The mission’s goal is to explore Jupiter’s moon, Europa, and investigate its […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Simulated View of Thermal Emissions from Europa
Scientists based this image on a model of data from NASA’s Galileo mission and data from an instrument on NASA’s Cassini mission that studied warm regions of Saturn’s moon Enceladus […]