Europa Clipper

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk1rCCrW9NU


How was NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft packed and shipped from the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California to Kennedy Space Center in Florida? The mission’s lead engineer Kobie Boykins explains how the team made sure the 7,000-pound spacecraft would be safe while it traveled first on a semitruck then flew to Florida on a United States Air Force C-17 Globemaster III. The Europa Clipper team also shipped enough ground support equipment to fill 14 semitrailers.
Click to expand...
 
See highlighted section that an issue has been discovered with the electronics of Europa Clipper.


This is just unbelievable behaviour in the case of this company. It was brought to NASA’s attention at a conference by colleagues working on classified payloads that had been noticing higher failure rates from these components on national security payloads.

From that article:
The company [Infineon] has already corrected the mistake, but Infineon did not report the flaw [i.e. failure of some transistors to meet radiation-hardness standards] to NASA because the company did not know what the transistors would be used for, Fitzpatrick said.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Flyaway said:
See highlighted section that an issue has been discovered with the electronics of Europa Clipper.


This is just unbelievable behaviour in the case of this company. It was brought to NASA’s attention at a conference by colleagues working on classified payloads that had been noticing higher failure rates from these components on national security payloads.

From that article:
Click to expand...

"Certainly the organization that develops space probes would never care about radiation hardening!"

Regarding what happens to the probe, I would assume it would be delayed somewhat. I don't know the next launch window for the gravity assists on the trajectory offhand, so I don't know if this would be a ~1 year delay or longer.
 
Despite those challenges, Nicky Fox, NASA associate administrator for science, said she remains optimistic about the prospects of launching the mission on schedule. “We’re going to continue to charge towards the launch as long as we can, look at all of the options and make a decision,” she said in an interview after a talk at the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) 45th Scientific Assembly here July 16.

She added there is no deadline short of the launch period itself for deciding to proceed with the launch. “We will keep marching towards that Oct. 10 launch window, and at some point that decision will be made for us.”
Click to expand...

spacenews.com

NASA science head optimistic Europa Clipper launches on schedule

The head of NASA science is optimistic the Europa Clipper mission will launch in October despite concerns about the spacecraft’s electronics and its rocket.
spacenews.com spacenews.com
 
Let's wait and see what happens Flyaway if Europa Clipper launches on Schedule, I for one will wait and see if it does.
 
Fingers and toes firmly crossed that Europa Clipper makes the October 2024 launch window. If it does not when would the next launch window be?
 
There's a 2025 launch opportunity with a Mars-Earth-Earth Gravity assist, unknown when in the year it'll be. This would result in arrival to jupiter ~two years after the current plan.
 
The 2025 launch window sounds interesting TheKutKu. But I would really like Europa Clipper to get launched in October.
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1827775534408839426
View: https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/1827775534408839426


Not a done deal yet, but the likelihood of Europa Clipper making its October launch window appears to be rising despite its transistor issue. Would really like NASA to provide more timely updates on this flagship mission.
Click to expand...
https://twitter.com/x/status/1828885628299423941
View: https://twitter.com/europaclipper/status/1828885628299423941


Our mission to explore Jupiter's moon Europa remains on track, with a launch period opening on Oct. 10. We recently conducted extensive testing of our spacecraft's transistors, and results suggest they're ready to support our baseline mission.
Click to expand...

NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission Moving Toward October Launch Date – NASA's Europa Clipper Mission

blogs.nasa.gov blogs.nasa.gov

The next major milestone for our mission in NASA's standard process is Key Decision Point E on Sept. 9, when the agency will decide whether we're ready to proceed to launch. A media briefing targeted for that same week will provide more information.
Click to expand...
 
Sam Howell: ‘One day we might look for life directly on Europa’

Aug 23, 2024
NASA’s Europa Clipper is setting off for one of Jupiter’s icy moons, Europa, to see if it could harbour life. It will perform dozens of close flybys gathering detailed measurements from its suite of sensors to understand the nature of this distant world's ice shell and the ocean thought to lurk beneath it.

Sam Howell is a project staff scientist on the mission and a planetary interior researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. He tells David Stock why the agency is so keen to take a closer look at Jupiter’s fourth-largest moon, what exactly it is hoping to find there and how the visit could help us figure out the likelihood of life elsewhere in the cosmos.
Click to expand...

View: https://youtu.be/jqqhfqNUCUk?si=IQ4vWXwXbNj-oikv
 
Last edited:
I originally posted this last Monday in the SpaceX thread:

The Space Bucket has a new video out about the most expensive payload yet to be launched by the Falcon Heavy:


We now are just over a month away from the launch of a single spacecraft worth around $5 billion. Over the last decade, this spacecraft, named Europa Clipper, has been undergoing development, testing, and now final preparations. The vehicle tasked with integrating and launching this payload is SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket.
Click to expand...
Considering both its size and the distant destination of Jupiter, they needed a vehicle with immense power along with some unique characteristics. Here I will go more in-depth into the spacecraft itself, general mission progress, what to expect in the coming weeks, and more.
Click to expand...
Full article here - https://thespacebucket.com/a-closer-l...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbXFtM0pqTVpUbk5CWkpDODRKNmlHSTdlLTB1Z3xBQ3Jtc0tsbzJkTHFjT1pmdk9pbmlIeFp0WFQ2QkRRTWNyTDhQSWJwYkhld2JCT2F4LXg5R3BodEtXVkRCQ1l6dFpIS1hxdUJmYjRla2FzdU9xRTBOTm9Td3RzYVBZOFlFUUZ5aVI0MjFLNF9fck9paUYxNG84NA&q=https://thespacebucket.com/&v=whzIJa3_oMI
Click to expand...
Credit:
SpaceX - / spacex https://www.youtube.com/c/SpaceX
NASA - / @nasa https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLA_DiR1FfKNvjuUpBHmylQ
Click to expand...
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:30 - An Important Payload
3:38 - Radiation Concerns
Click to expand...

It will be interesting to watch the Europa Clipper's launch but on the other hand it's going to be years before it arrives at Jupiter.
 
Flyaway said:
I don’t know about Europa Clipper but her cat Pippin steals the show from about halfway through.
Click to expand...

Given how chipper and perky she is in her videos I wonder if she slips something "Stimulating" into her tea before she does her videos;):D?
 
Excellent news, looks like things are moving along nicely Flyaway, with the Falcon Heavy getting ready and Europa Clipper getting fuelled up and ready to go for the launch. I cannot wait until October 10.
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1842200426474619276
View: https://x.com/nasa_lsp/status/1842200426474619276


One last look at #EuropaClipper as the payload fairings close!

The spacecraft will be on a nearly 6-year journey to investigate if there are habitable conditions on Jupiter’s moon Europa. Liftoff is targeted for Oct. 10 on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy!

blogs.nasa.gov/europaclipper/
Click to expand...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1842200429322498505
View: https://twitter.com/nasa_lsp/status/1842200429322498505


Before encapsulation, technicians mated Europa Clipper to the payload adapter and payload attach fitting that will connect the spacecraft to the the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
Click to expand...
 
the spacecraft will likely stay in the processing facility vs getting mated to rocket at the hangar.
 
So no October 10 launch pity, I was looking forward to it. I will be monitorng the weather reports with interest to see when the next available launch date could be.
 
Good news about that Flyaway, only provisionally 13 October does that mean that it could change if yet another hurricane appears? Let's wait and see what happens.
 

Similar threads

Please donate to support the forum.

Back
Top Bottom