4 ms·
As others have said, you're looking at the image. We'll have to wait for a bit before we get some really good images of Europa. From Google: NASA's Europa Clip
by Electricniko 3y ago
As others have said, you're looking at the image. We'll have to wait for a bit before we get some really good images of Europa. From Google:
NASA's Europa Clipper is the first dedicated mission to explore a world with a global ocean, other than Earth. The spacecraft is scheduled to launch in October 2024 and will arrive at Europa in 2030. The mission will study Europa's surface and interior to determine if it has the ingredients to support life. The spacecraft will make about 50 close flybys of Europa while orbiting Jupiter.
Also see some of the images from Juno if you want a better look at the moon.
- ricktdotorg 3y ago> scheduled to launch in October 2024 and will arrive at Europa in 2030 wow, when you see dates like this it really puts things into perspective! a six year trip! any idea of how much of the trip is acceleration vs. deceleration?
- Figs 3y agoNot exactly what you're asking, but it might be helpful to know that they're not planning to take a direct flight there. NASA is planning to use gravity assists off of Mars in Feb 2025 and Earth in Dec 2026. They can launch it MUCH more cheaply that way but it'll take about 3 years longer than a direct flight. There's an animation of the planned trajectory on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Animation_of_Europa_Clipper_trajectory.gif https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Animation_of_Europa_Clipp...