An illustration depicts NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, planned for a 2024 launch. Its mission is to analyze Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, under intense solar system radiation, with the aim to discern if Europa may harbor life-friendly environments beneath its surface. Image courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
The Europa Clipper mission faces the daunting challenge of withstanding intense radiation and high-energy particles in Jupiter’s vicinity as it seeks to unravel the secrets of the icy moon Europa.
In its quest to determine the potential habitability of Jupiter’s frozen moon, Europa, NASA’s Europa Clipper will brave some of the solar system’s most severe radiation conditions while orbiting Jupiter.
Crafting radiation defenses for the spacecraft is a complex endeavor. On October 7, a significant advancement was achieved when the spacecraft’s protective “armor,” a vault meant to safeguard its delicate electronics, was installed. This vital component’s assembly occurs within NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Spacecraft Assembly Facility in Southern California, with a targeted October 2024 departure.
Step into the controlled environment of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory with the NASA Europa Clipper mission team for a glimpse into the design of the Europa-bound spacecraft. Jordan Evans, Europa Clipper Project Manager, and Trina Ray, Deputy Science Manager, elucidate on the translation of scientific inquiries into tangible components, updating on the construction within JPL’s sterile chamber and highlighting features that will link the craft to its launching vessel, its primary communication transmitter, and the onboard cameras. Credit: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Kendra Short, Europa Clipper’s deputy flight system manager at JPL, declared the vault’s closure a critical achievement, signifying the readiness to proceed with the final assembly.
The aluminum vault, scarcely under a half-inch (1 centimeter) thick, will encase the electronic systems for the spacecraft’s scientific instruments. Opting for this method rather than individual component shielding is a strategic choice to mitigate additional costs and weight.
Insoo Jun, a co-chair of the Europa Clipper Radiation Focus Group and a space radiation authority at JPL, states that the vault is designed to mitigate the radiation to levels tolerable for most onboard electronics.
Harsh Radiation Environment
Jupiter’s colossal magnetic field, 20,000 times stronger than Earth’s and synced with the planet’s 10-hour rotation cycle, entraps and propels charged particles from Jupiter’s atmosphere, forming intense radiation belts. This radiation acts as a relentless force, inflicting damage on everything within its reach.
According to Jun, Jupiter’s radiation is the most intense in the solar system, excluding the sun, and it influences every facet of the mission.
On October 7, specialists secured the Europa Clipper’s vault in the central clean room of the JPL Spacecraft Assembly Facility. This safeguard will be crucial as the spacecraft orbits Jupiter, shielding its internal systems. Image courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Hence, upon reaching Jupiter in 2030, Europa Clipper won’t remain in a fixed orbit around Europa but will engage in extensive Jupiter orbits to minimize radiation exposure. These orbits will enable the spacecraft to make close to 50 flybys of Europa to collect data.
The radiation’s intensity is such that it may alter Europa’s surface, potentially changing its color, as observed by Tom Nordheim, a planetary scientist at JPL who studies icy celestial bodies, including Europa and Saturn’s Enceladus.
Nordheim points out that radiation is a significant force in shaping Europa’s surface, contributing to its distinctive reddish-brown coloration—a sign of radiation’s influence.
Chaotic Ice Landscape
While engineers aim to protect the Europa Clipper from radiation, scientists are eager to analyze it, intending to use the spacecraft’s instruments to probe Jupiter’s daunting radiation belts.
Nordheim’s attention is on Europa’s “chaos terrain,” regions where the moon’s crust appears disrupted and rearranged, retaining ancient fractures.
Scientists hypothesize a massive subterranean ocean beneath Europa’s ice crust, potentially hospitable to life. Surface features suggest that materials might be moving from below to the surface
