A Few Steps Closer to Europa: Spacecraft Hardware Makes Headway

Delivery of the towering propulsion module from Goddard to APL marked a milestone for that major piece of hardware. APL built the twin cylinders that make up the module and shipped them to JPL, where technicians added thermal tubing that will carry coolant to keep the spacecraft from getting too hot or too cold in deep space. From there, the cylinders went to Goddard, where propellant tanks were installed inside of them and 16 rocket engines were attached to the outside.

Another large piece of hardware nearing completion is the spacecraft’s radiator, which connects to the thermal tubing. The width and length of a twin-size bed, the radiator’s 3-inch-thick (7.5-centimeter-thick) panel has the crucial job of radiating heat out into space to keep the spacecraft within its operating temperature range. It is covered with louvers that open and close automatically as the spacecraft disperses more or less heat to regulate its temperature.

Meanwhile, work at APL begins to integrate the propulsion module and the telecommunications hardware (electronics, radios, antennas and cabling). And construction of a high-gain antenna — a dish nearly 10 feet (3 meters) wide — is underway at vendor Applied Aerospace Structures Corporation in Stockton, California. It will be delivered to APL this year, where it will be integrated before the entire module comes back to JPL a final time. By the spring of 2022, the huge element will join other Europa Clipper hardware streaming into JPL’s main high bay for assembly, test and launch operations (ATLO).

One of the first elements in place for ATLO will be the spacecraft’s vault, now entering its final stage of fabrication at JPL. Eventually, the vault will be bolted to the top of the propulsion module and affixed with miles of cabling so that the power box and computer inside can communicate with the other subsystems.

Attached to the vault will be a deck, also completing assembly at JPL, that will support many of the instrument sensors. Called the nadir deck, it stabilizes the spacecraft’s sensors and helps ensure they are oriented correctly.

Science Instruments Nearing Completion

At the same time that the spacecraft body, electronics and engineering subsystems come together, nine science instruments are being assembled and tested across a network of clean rooms at NASA centers, partner institutions and private industry vendors. The suite of instruments will investigate everything from the depth of the internal ocean and its salinity to the thickness of the ice crust and potential plumes that may be venting subsurface water into space.

Slated to be delivered to ATLO from late 2021 through mid-2022, the instruments — which include APL-developed cameras to capture surface geology in detail and plasma sensors to study Europa’s ice thickness, ocean depth and conductivity — are undergoing extensive testing. Engineers want to be sure the instruments can communicate correctly with the flight computer, the spacecraft software and the power subsystem, to be able to respond to commands and transmit data back to Earth.

Mission leaders acknowledge that COVID-19 challenges have stretched the project and instrument teams as they find ways to meet deadlines when parts are delayed or staffing is short. Engineers, technicians and scientists continue to power through.

“What we’ve seen, even in the midst of the pandemic, is that the engineering and instrument teams are responding very well. The pandemic has affected mission schedule, but the teams are tackling the challenges, communicating openly and displaying tremendous flexibility to keep the hardware on track for our October 2024 launch,” said Europa Clipper Deputy Project Manager Jordan Evans. “We see it day in and day out, across the team, and it’s fantastic.”

More About Europa Clipper

Missions such as Europa Clipper contribute to the field of astrobiology, the interdisciplinary research on the variables and conditions of distant worlds that could harbor life as we know it. While Europa Clipper is not a life-detection mission, it will conduct detailed reconnaissance of Europa and investigate whether the icy moon, with its subsurface ocean, has the capability to support life. Understanding Europa’s habitability will help scientists better understand how life developed on Earth and the potential for finding life beyond our planet.

Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with APL for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission.

Learn more about Europa at europa.nasa.gov.