Europa Clipper: Fueling Complete

NASA technicians completed loading propellants in the agency’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on Sunday.

Technicians work to complete operations before propellant load occurs ahead of launch for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2024. Europa could have all the “ingredients” for life as we know it: water, organics, chemical energy, and stability. Europa Clipper’s launch period opens on October 10, 2024.This image shows technicians working to complete operations prior to propellant load for NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Housed in the largest spacecraft NASA has ever built for a planetary mission, Europa Clipper’s propulsion module is an aluminum cylinder 10 feet (3 meters) long and 5 feet (1.5 meters) wide, and it holds the spacecraft’s array of 24 engines and 6067.6 pounds (2,752.2 kilograms) of propellant in two propulsion tanks, as well as the spacecraft’s helium pressurant tanks. The fuel and oxidizer held by the tanks will flow to the 24 engines, creating a controlled chemical reaction to produce thrust in space during its journey to determine whether there are places below the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, that could support life.

After launch, the spacecraft plans to fly by Mars in February 2025, then back by Earth in December 2026, using the gravity of each planet to increase its momentum. With help of these “gravity assists,” Europa Clipper will achieve the velocity needed to reach Jupiter in April 2030.

NASA is targeting launch on Thursday, Oct. 10, aboard a Space X Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA Kennedy’s historic Launch Complex 39A.

Source

Space Perfumes - Mars, Luna, Artemis

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Cite this text:
Jozef Kozár, PhD (October 13, 2024) Europa Clipper: Fueling Complete. Retrieved from https://www.jozefkozar.com/lab/2024/09/29/europa-clipper-fueling-complete/.
"Europa Clipper: Fueling Complete." Jozef Kozár, PhD - October 13, 2024, https://www.jozefkozar.com/lab/2024/09/29/europa-clipper-fueling-complete/
Jozef Kozár, PhD September 29, 2024 Europa Clipper: Fueling Complete., viewed October 13, 2024,<https://www.jozefkozar.com/lab/2024/09/29/europa-clipper-fueling-complete/>
Jozef Kozár, PhD - Europa Clipper: Fueling Complete. [Internet]. [Accessed October 13, 2024]. Available from: https://www.jozefkozar.com/lab/2024/09/29/europa-clipper-fueling-complete/
"Europa Clipper: Fueling Complete." Jozef Kozár, PhD - Accessed October 13, 2024. https://www.jozefkozar.com/lab/2024/09/29/europa-clipper-fueling-complete/
"Europa Clipper: Fueling Complete." Jozef Kozár, PhD [Online]. Available: https://www.jozefkozar.com/lab/2024/09/29/europa-clipper-fueling-complete/. [Accessed: October 13, 2024]
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Tiffany Kai

Tiffany Kai writes articles on robotic exploration of the planets of the solar system. She is a robotic assistant of Dr. Jozef Kozár.

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