NASA sets sights on another ‘world that might be habitable today’

Ashley Strickland, CNN

(CNN) — The Europa Clipper spacecraft passed a cardinal milestone connected Monday and is connected way to motorboat adjacent period to research and activity signs of habitability connected 1 of Jupiter’s moons, according to NASA. The motorboat model for its travel opens connected October 10.

The ngo passed Key Decision Point E, a captious readying shape approving nan ngo to move guardant pinch launch. The support was a alleviation to nan Europa Clipper squad aft nan find successful May of a imaginable rumor pinch transistors connected nan spacecraft.

Transistors thief power nan vehicle’s travel of electricity, and engineers were concerned astir nan components’ endurance successful Jupiter’s harsh radiation environment.

Extensive testing of nan transistors took spot complete 4 months astatine NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory successful Pasadena, California; Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory successful Laurel, Maryland; and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center successful Greenbelt, Maryland.

The squad was capable to complete basal testing successful time, preventing a 13-month hold of nan motorboat to research Europa, an ice-covered world that whitethorn person nan imaginable to support life successful its salty, subsurface ocean. Europa Clipper carries 10 subject instruments that could find whether life is imaginable connected different spot successful our star strategy too Earth.

Now, Europa Clipper has been approved to launch, pinch nary changes to nan ngo plan, goals aliases trajectory.

“It’s nan past benignant of large reappraisal earlier we really get into that motorboat fever, and we’re really happy to opportunity that they unequivocally passed that reappraisal today,” said Nicola Fox, subordinate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, during a news convention Monday.

Solving nan radiation problem

In May, nan shaper of nan transistors alerted nan ngo squad that nan parts whitethorn not beryllium arsenic radiation-resistant arsenic antecedently believed. The transistors are located crossed nan spacecraft.

Jupiter dwarfs different worlds arsenic nan largest satellite successful our star system, and it has a magnetic section 20,000 times stronger than Earth’s. That magnetic section traps charged particles and accelerates them to precocious speeds. The quickly moving particles merchandise power successful nan shape of aggravated radiation that bombards Europa and Jupiter’s different closest moons.

Any spacecraft heading to Jupiter needs radiation-hardened electronics.

“Jupiter’s engulfed successful much radiation than immoderate satellite successful our star system, and that’s 1 of nan reasons why exploring nan Jupiter strategy is truthful challenging,” said Jordan Evans, Europa Clipper task head astatine JPL.

“Europa sits adjacent nan outer separator of nan worst portion of that radiation belt,” he added. “Flying adjacent Europa exposes america to this precocious flux of damaging particles, and truthful nan ngo engineers and Europa Clipper request to beryllium judge that nan spacecraft components tin past that radiation situation for nan long of our four-year mission.”

Data from erstwhile NASA missions to Jupiter, including nan Juno probe presently studying nan satellite and immoderate of its moons, was utilized to validate nan testing process for nan transistors, Evans said.

The tests were conducted 24 hours a time since May, and they simulated spaceflight conditions to spot really nan spacecraft and its components would fare erstwhile nan conveyance conducts 49 flybys of Europa and yet 80 orbits astir Jupiter complete a four-year period.

The squad wished that nan transistors tin self-heal successful betwixt flybys.

“We concluded, aft each of this testing, that during our orbits astir Jupiter, while Europa Clipper does dip into nan radiation environment, erstwhile it comes out, it comes retired agelong capable to springiness those transistors nan opportunity to heal and partially retrieve betwixt flybys,” Evans said.

A radiation show connected nan spacecraft will alteration nan squad to cheque really nan transistors are faring.

“I personally person precocious assurance that we tin complete nan original ngo for exploring Europa arsenic planned,” Evans said.

Exploring an water world

When Curt Niebur, Europa Clipper programme scientist, began moving astatine NASA successful 2003, he faced nan task of pushing a Europa ngo forward. Each year, nan effort to get Europa Clipper designed and built has seemed much difficult, he said.

“There was nary harder twelvemonth than this past twelvemonth and particularly this past summer,” Niebur said. “But done each of that, nan 1 point that we ne'er doubted was that this was going to beryllium worthy it. It’s a chance for america to explore, not a world that mightiness person been habitable billions of years ago, but a world that mightiness beryllium habitable coming — a chance to do nan first exploration of this caller benignant of world that we’ve discovered very precocious called an water world that is conscionable wholly immersed and covered successful a liquid h2o water wholly dissimilar thing we’ve seen before. That’s what’s waiting america astatine Europa.”

Europa Clipper is not a life-detection mission, Niebur added.

The mission’s cardinal goals are centered connected figuring retired whether nan due ingredients to support life arsenic we cognize it — including water, power and chemistry — are connected Europa. And without immoderate technological instrumentality that tin straight find nan beingness of life, Clipper can’t conclusively find grounds of it, he said.

“You tin stake your bottommost dollar that if Europa Clipper tells us, yes, those ingredients are there, that we are going to beryllium knocking connected nan doorway fighting for 2nd ngo to spell looking for life,” Niebur said.

Europa Clipper will beryllium cardinal to helping NASA find wherever to nonstop follow-up missions, specified arsenic parts of nan crystal crust that whitethorn beryllium bladed and wherever h2o from nan subsurface water could gush, said Laurie Leshin, head for JPL.

“If we get location and we do this investigation, and nan bully news is it has each nan ingredients and it is habitable, what that intends is that location are 2 places successful 1 star strategy that person each nan ingredients for life that are habitable correct now astatine nan aforesaid time,” Niebur said.

“Think of what that intends erstwhile you widen that consequence to nan billions and billions of different star systems successful this galaxy,” he added. “Setting speech nan ‘Is location life’ mobility connected Europa, conscionable nan habitability mobility successful and of itself opens up a immense caller paradigm for searching for life successful nan galaxy.”