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Yep, for reference Europa Clipper is 6,065 kg [0]. It is an absolutely massive interplanetary probe. It is getting close in size to some of the largest GEO comm

Yep, for reference Europa Clipper is 6,065 kg [0]. It is an absolutely massive interplanetary probe. It is getting close in size to some of the largest GEO communication satellites. And to get it out to Jupiter they definitely need some of the gravity assist trajectories. On the opposite end of the spectrum, New Horizons was only 478 kg [1] and still holds the record for the fastest thing ever launched from Earth. It also did a gravity assist flyby around Jupiter and it still took 9 years to get to Pluto. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_Clipper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_Clipper [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons

magicalhippo 2y ago
Cassini[1] was quite massive too at launch, at 5712 kg. Though to be fair, 320 kg was due to the Huygens[2] probe it carried with it. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassini%E2%80%93Huygens https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassini%E2%80%93Huygens [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huygens_(spacecraft) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huygens_(spacecraft)
itishappy 2y ago
> New Horizons ... still holds the record for the fastest thing ever launched from Earth. To expand on this a bit, it's the fastest launch. The unqualified speed record goes to the Parker Solar Probe in 2018, and was previous held by Helios B way back in 1976. The distinction here is that New Horizons has spent it's life traveling away from the Sun, and it costs energy and thus speed to do so. Meanwhile, solar probes gain speed during their fall towards the Sun. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Solar_Probe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Solar_Probe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_(spacecraft) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_(spacecraft)
- CableNinja 2y ago
  And parker is about to break its own record soon! Its currently about to (or has just) pass venus one last time before swinging by the sun once more, so close that it will be able to fly through the plasma loops.

magicalhippo 2y ago

Cassini[1] was quite massive too at launch, at 5712 kg. Though to be fair, 320 kg was due to the Huygens[2] probe it carried with it. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassini%E2%80%93Huygens https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassini%E2%80%93Huygens [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huygens_(spacecraft) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huygens_(spacecraft)

itishappy 2y ago

> New Horizons ... still holds the record for the fastest thing ever launched from Earth. To expand on this a bit, it's the fastest launch. The unqualified speed record goes to the Parker Solar Probe in 2018, and was previous held by Helios B way back in 1976. The distinction here is that New Horizons has spent it's life traveling away from the Sun, and it costs energy and thus speed to do so. Meanwhile, solar probes gain speed during their fall towards the Sun. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Solar_Probe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Solar_Probe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_(spacecraft) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_(spacecraft)

CableNinja 2y ago
And parker is about to break its own record soon! Its currently about to (or has just) pass venus one last time before swinging by the sun once more, so close that it will be able to fly through the plasma loops.