NASA spacecraft rockets toward Jupiter’s moon Europa

[*Awful Llama*]

When I was an impressionable teen I saw the 2001: A Space Odyssey sequel 2010: The Year We Make Contact.  If you've not seen it, Jupiter's moon Europa is a large part of the story, and since that time I've been fascinated by it.  There was an article in today's paper all about a new spacecraft launched on Monday toward Europa with the intent to see if the ingredients necessary for life exist there.

From the article:  

It will take Europa Clipper 5 1/2 years to reach Jupiter, where it will slip into orbit around the giant gas planet and sneak close to Europa during dozens of radiation-drenched flybys.  Scientists are almost certain a deep, global ocean exists beneath Europa’s icy crust. And where there is water, there could be life, making the moon one of the most promising places out there to hunt for it.  

Anyway, this forum seemed a little quiet and thought this was interesting and wanted to share.  It is amazing what technology has led us to.  

https://apnews.com/article/nasa-europa-clipper-jupiter-88d680ae8625c239370865b36d5d69a8

[Stewy]

(10-16-2024, 01:26 PM)Awful Llama Wrote: When I was an impressionable teen I saw the 2001: A Space Odyssey sequel 2010: The Year We Make Contact.  If you've not seen it, Jupiter's moon Europa is a large part of the story, and since that time I've been fascinated by it.  There was an article in today's paper all about a new spacecraft launched on Monday toward Europa with the intent to see if the ingredients necessary for life exist there.

From the article:  

It will take Europa Clipper 5 1/2 years to reach Jupiter, where it will slip into orbit around the giant gas planet and sneak close to Europa during dozens of radiation-drenched flybys.  Scientists are almost certain a deep, global ocean exists beneath Europa’s icy crust. And where there is water, there could be life, making the moon one of the most promising places out there to hunt for it.  

Anyway, this forum seemed a little quiet and thought this was interesting and wanted to share.  It is amazing what technology has led us to.  

https://apnews.com/article/nasa-europa-clipper-jupiter-88d680ae8625c239370865b36d5d69a8

I am interested in all things space and solar system.  If I had been a shade smarter, I would have loved to have worked for JPL as a planetary geologist.

[NATI BENGALS]

1.8 billion miles… Hurry up !!!

[SunsetBengal]

(10-16-2024, 11:47 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: 1.8 billion miles… Hurry up !!!

You know, after growing up with all of the Sci-Fi movies of my generation, I would have thought that warp drive travel would be much more commonplace by now. 5.5 years to get there? What are they doing, just drifting?

[*Awful Llama*]

(Yesterday, 07:38 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: You know, after growing up with all of the Sci-Fi movies of my generation, I would have thought that warp drive travel would be much more commonplace by now. 5.5 years to get there? What are they doing, just drifting?

Well,  I was curious about that myself so I checked the NASA website.  I didn't see a speed mentioned , but they say the spacecraft will travel 1.8 billion miles to reach its orbit position in 5.5 years.  There are 8,760 hours in a year, so there would be 48,180 hours in 5.5 years.  1.8B divided by 48,180 is 37,359.9 miles per hour.  That would be the average, of course.  I imagine the speed will vary some when they slingshot around Jupiter versus periods of straight-line flight.  And, reading on the site it's not a direct path there (and apologies, I made the below text white so it would show up on the night mode that I and I assume most others use, I'm not sure how to cut and paste text and get it to be the default color of this site):

The spacecraft will travel 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) on a trajectory that will leverage the power of gravity assists, first to Mars in four months and then back to Earth for another gravity assist flyby in 2026. After it begins orbiting Jupiter in April 2030, the spacecraft will fly past Europa 49 times.


So it doesn't even leave earth's orbit permanently until 2026.  Some more specifics about the mission:

• The largest spacecraft NASA ever built for a mission headed to another planet, Europa Clipper also is the first NASA mission dedicated to studying an ocean world beyond Earth. 
  

• Coming as close as 16 miles (25 kilometers) to the surface, Europa Clipper is equipped with nine science instruments and a gravity experiment, including an ice-penetrating radar, cameras, and a thermal instrument to look for areas of warmer ice and any recent eruptions of water. 
  

• Europa Clipper also carries the largest solar arrays NASA has ever used for an interplanetary mission. With arrays extended, the spacecraft spans 100 feet (30.5 meters) from end to end. With propellant loaded, it weighs about 13,000 pounds (5,900 kilograms).
  
  

Fascinating stuff.

[FormerlyBengalRugby]

(Yesterday, 09:39 AM)Awful Llama Wrote: Well,  I was curious about that myself so I checked the NASA website.  I didn't see a speed mentioned , but they say the spacecraft will travel 1.8 billion miles to reach its orbit position in 5.5 years.  There are 8,760 hours in a year, so there would be 48,180 hours in 5.5 years.  1.8B divided by 48,180 is 37,359.9 miles per hour.  That would be the average, of course.  I imagine the speed will vary some when they slingshot around Jupiter versus periods of straight-line flight.  And, reading on the site it's not a direct path there (and apologies, I made the below text white so it would show up on the night mode that I and I assume most others use, I'm not sure how to cut and paste text and get it to be the default color of this site):

The spacecraft will travel 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) on a trajectory that will leverage the power of gravity assists, first to Mars in four months and then back to Earth for another gravity assist flyby in 2026. After it begins orbiting Jupiter in April 2030, the spacecraft will fly past Europa 49 times.


So it doesn't even leave earth's orbit permanently until 2026.  Some more specifics about the mission:

• The largest spacecraft NASA ever built for a mission headed to another planet, Europa Clipper also is the first NASA mission dedicated to studying an ocean world beyond Earth. 
  

• Coming as close as 16 miles (25 kilometers) to the surface, Europa Clipper is equipped with nine science instruments and a gravity experiment, including an ice-penetrating radar, cameras, and a thermal instrument to look for areas of warmer ice and any recent eruptions of water. 
  

• Europa Clipper also carries the largest solar arrays NASA has ever used for an interplanetary mission. With arrays extended, the spacecraft spans 100 feet (30.5 meters) from end to end. With propellant loaded, it weighs about 13,000 pounds (5,900 kilograms).
  
  

Fascinating stuff.

The speed out there is what always made me questionable about space travel.

I know it happens, but at that speed, the smallest pebble punches through everything. Always had that question about space travel.