NASA has given the go-ahead to next month’s launch to Jupiter’s moon Europa. Monday's decision came after after reviewing the spacecraft’s ability to withstand the intense radiation there. Questions about the reliability of the transistors on the Europa Clipper spacecraft arose earlier this year after similar problems cropped up elsewhere.
FILE - This image provided by NASA, processed by Kevin M. Gill, shows Jupiter’s moon Europa captured by the Juno spacecraft on Sept. 29, 2022, with north to the left. Research published Monday, March 4, 2024, suggests there’s less oxygen on the icy surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa than thought — and that could affect what if any life might be lurking in the moon’s underground ocean. In this image released by NASA, NASA’s Europa Clipper is seen here on Aug.
Liftoff remains scheduled for Oct. 10 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. NASA has three weeks to launch the spacecraft before standing down for more than a year to await another proper planetary alignment; the spacecraft needs to swing past Mars and then Earth for gravity assists. Project manager Jordan Evans said the transistors — located in circuits across the entire spacecraft — are expected to degrade when Europa Clipper is exposed to the worst of the radiation during the 49 flybys of the moon. But they should recover during the three weeks between each encounter, said Evans of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
It will take six years for Europa Clipper to reach Jupiter, where it will orbit the gas giant every three weeks. Dozens of flybys are planned of Europa as close as 16 miles , allowing cameras and other instruments — including ice-penetrating radar — to map virtually the entire moon. Europa Clipper is the biggest spacecraft ever built by NASA to investigate another planet, spanning more than 100 feet with its solar panels unfurled.The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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