Europa Clipper

Europa Clipper is one of the most ambitious planetary exploration missions to date. It will investigate Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, and answer one of the biggest questions: Is there other life in our solar system?

Mission Objective

Europa Clipper’s mission is to determine whether Europa has the conditions that are suitable for life by conducting a detailed exploration of the moon’s surface and subsurface and focusing on its icy shell and the potential ocean beneath it.

Mission Significance

Europa is believed to have a wide ocean beneath its icy crust, possibly containing more than twice the water of all Earth’s oceans combined. Studying and examining Europa’s structure, geology, and chemistry might provide another source of habitability in our Solar System.

Source: JPL

Technical Challenges

• General Requirements: Europa Clipper is designed to perform 50 flybys of Europa. Therefore, the spacecraft must be extremely resilient to extreme radiation and high temperature fluctuations due to Jupiter’s magnetosphere.
• Instruments Requirements: Including cameras, spectrometers, and thermal imagers. Those must overcome the obstacle of the collection of data while dealing with stray sunlight, reflections, and internal scattering. In addition, they must be able to collect faint signals for the overall data analysis.

Instrument’s Characteristics

• Width: 30m (when solar arrays are deployed)
• Height: 5m
• Weight: 6000kg (at launch)
• Propulsion System: 24 Engines

Europa Clipper exhibits the most sophisticated suite of nine science instruments NASA has ever sent to the Jupiter system. It includes high-resolution cameras for detailed surface mapping, as well as dual-frequency radar capable of penetrating ice to assess its thickness and search for hidden subsurface lakes. Additional tools analyse surface composition, atmospheric components, and charged particles, offering insights into the moon’s atmosphere and possible plumes.

Acktar’s Solution

One of the most significant challenges that need to be addressed is the demanding optical environment which requires accurate light control, which is what Acktar specializes in.

By applying the Fractal Black coating on the E-THEMIS instrument, Acktar is contributing to stray light mitigation and by that to the accuracy and precision of the instrument. E-THEMIS is responsible for mapping temperature variation across Europa moon, which might determine where there is geological activity that might indicate about subsurface ocean. The accuracy of the instrument is important for valid and reliable data, and crucial for Europa’s main mission.

To read more about E-TEHMIS and Acktar’s contribution, click here.

The Europa Clipper plaque, featuring the signatures of Acktar personnel who contributed to the project. Source: JPL

Impact

Europa is believed to have a wide ocean beneath its icy crust, possibly containing more than twice the water of all Earth’s oceans combined. Studying and examining Europa’s structure, geology, and chemistry might provide another source of habitability in our Solar System.

Source: NASA

The Europa Clipper mission stands as one of the most thrilling assignments of the coming decade, since it marks a significant advancement in astrobiology, addressing one of humanity’s foremost questions: Are we alone in the universe?

 ACKTAR PARTS: