vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
NASA’s Europa Clipper Survives and Thrives in ‘Outer Space’ on Earth - NASA
The spacecraft was recently put through a series of hard-core tests at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California to ensure it’s up to the challenge.
Called environmental testing, the battery of trials simulates the environment that the spacecraft will face, subjecting it to shaking, chilling, airlessness, electromagnetic fields, and more.
 

NASA’s Europa Clipper is seen being lifted into the Space Simulator at JPL in February. Thermal vacuum testing, which lasted 16 days, ensures that the spacecraft will withstand the harsh conditions of space. NASA/JPL-Caltech 

NASA’s Europa Clipper is visible in the clean room of High Bay 1 within JPL’s Spacecraft Assembly Facility in January. The tent around the spacecraft was erected to support electromagnetic testing, which was part of a regimen of environmental tests. NASA/JPL-Caltech 

“These were the last big tests to find any flaws,” said JPL’s Jordan Evans, the mission’s project manager. “Our engineers executed a well-designed and challenging set of tests that put the system through its paces. What we found is that the spacecraft can handle the environments that it will see during and after launch. The system performed very well and operates as expected.”
The Gantlet
The most recent environmental test for Europa Clipper was also one of the most elaborate, requiring 16 days to complete. The spacecraft is the largest NASA has ever built for a planetary mission and one of the largest ever to squeeze into JPL’s historic 85-foot-tall, 25-foot-wide (26-meter-by-8-meter) thermal vacuum chamber (TVAC). Known as the 25-foot Space Simulator, the chamber creates a near-perfect vacuum inside to mimic the airless environment of space.
At the same time, engineers subjected the hardware to the high temperatures it will experience on the side of Europa Clipper that faces the Sun while the spacecraft is close to Earth. Beams from powerful lamps at the base of the Space Simulator bounced off a massive mirror at its top to mimic the heat the spacecraft will endure.
Potential Plumes on Europa Could Come From Water in the Crust – NASA's Europa Clipper
The relatively small size of the plume that would form at Manannán indicates that impact craters probably can't explain the source of other, larger plumes on Europa that have been hypothesized based on data from Galileo and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, researchers said. But the process modeled for the Manannán eruption could happen on other icy bodies - even without an impact event.
"The work is exciting, because it supports the growing body of research showing there could be multiple kinds of plumes on Europa," said Robert Pappalardo of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and project scientist of the Europa Clipper mission. "Understanding plumes and their possible sources strongly contributes to Europa Clipper's goal to investigate Europa's habitability."
Missions such as Europa Clipper help 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.
More information about Europa and Europa Clipper can be found here:
europa.nasa.gov
News Media Contact
Gretchen McCartney
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-6215
gretchen.p.mccartney@jpl.nasa.gov
Grey Hautaluoma / Alana Johnson
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0668 / 202-358-1501
grey.hautaluoma-1@nasa.gov / alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov
Danielle Torrent Tucker
Stanford University School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences
650-725-7861
dttucker@stanford.edu
2020-218

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Dome-Shaped Features on Europa

Landscapes and Features of Europa
Make a Colorful Crayon Europa with Textures! | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for Kids
This large circular texture is possibly the remnant of a large impact on Europa’s icy surface.

This smooth feature looks like a “puddle” and could be a place where an ice slurry flooded the area. The crater was made by the impact of a meteor!

Wedge-shaped bands may represent places Europa’s icy crust was pulled apart & new material has filled in the in-between area.

Ridges may represent places where material underneath Europa’s icy shell was pushed up to the surface through cracks.

Related Resources

Download and color a Europa coloring page!

 	article last updated April 17, 2024
 

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FAQ | Mission – NASA's Europa Clipper
A bright, icy surface that lacked large impact craters implied the moon’s surface was young, meaning something had erased them. The Galileo spacecraft later saw additional features that suggested activity related to water (or possibly warm ice) beneath the surface, including areas of jumbled blocks of displaced ice ("chaos terrain"), and features like spots, domes, and pits. Galileo also showed how Jupiter’s magnetic field was disrupted in the space around Europa. This measurement strongly implies that a magnetic field is being created within Europa by an electrically conductive fluid beneath the surface. And based on Europa's icy composition, scientists think the most likely material to create this magnetic signature is a global ocean of salty water.

What is Europa’s surface like?

Theory and observation indicate that Europa's icy shell is around 15 to 25 kilometers (10 to 15 miles) thick, overlying an ocean approximately 60-150 kilometers (40 to 100 miles) deep.
Most of Europa's surface consists of bright water ice. The moon has reddish non-ice material along cracks and within areas where the surface has been disrupted. Europa's visible surface is only about 65 million years old on average, so some sort of geologic activity must have removed older features. Temperatures range from as high as approximately 140 Kelvin (about -210 degrees Fahrenheit) in dark material at the moon's equator to as low as approximately 50 Kelvin (-370 degrees Fahrenheit) in bright icy patches at the moon's poles. 
Learn more about Europa here. 

How far away is Europa from the Sun?

Europa orbits Jupiter at about 417,000 miles (671,000 kilometers) from the planet, which itself orbits the Sun at a distance of roughly 500 million miles (780 million kilometers), or 5.2 astronomical units (AU). One AU is the distance from Earth to the Sun.

Big Picture

What is the Europa Clipper spacecraft? 

NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft will conduct a detailed survey of Jupiter's moon Europa to determine whether there are places below the surface that could support life.
Una voz entre las estrellas: Poema de la poetisa laureada estadounidense Ada Limón viajará a Europa en una nave espacial de la NASA – NASA's Europa Clipper
New lab experiments re-create the environment of Europa and find that the icy moon shines, even on its nightside. The effect is more than just a cool visual.

Europa Glows: Radiation Does a Bright Number on Jupiter's Moon

The surface of Jupiter's moon Europa features a widely varied landscape, including ridges, bands, small rounded domes and disrupted spaces that geologists call "chaos terrain." Three newly reprocessed images, taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990s, reveal details in diverse surface features on Europa.

Newly Reprocessed Images of Europa Show 'Chaos Terrain' in Crisp Detail

An icy ocean world in our solar system that could tell us more about the potential for life on other worlds is coming into focus with confirmation of the Europa Clipper mission's next phase. 

Mission to Jupiter's Icy Moon Confirmed

Scientists discovered that the yellow color visible on portions of the surface of Europa is actually sodium chloride, a compound known on Earth as table salt, which is also the principal component of sea salt.

Table Salt Compound Spotted on Europa

A full-scale prototype antenna, which at 10 feet tall is the same height as a standard basketball hoop, is in the Experimental Test Range (ETR) at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

Europa Clipper High Gain Antenna Undergoes Testing at Langley

Students and families can meet a Mars rover, take a virtual tour through our solar system and explore alien worlds with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the Clippers SciFest SoCal.

Catch NASA's JPL at the Clippers SciFest This Weekend

NASA has decided to replace the current magnetometer on the upcoming Europa Clipper mission with a less complex instrument. 

NASA Seeks New Options for Science Instrument on Europa Clipper

New comprehensive mapping of the radiation pummeling Jupiter’s icy moon Europa reveals where scientists should look -- and how deep they’ll have to go -- when searching for signs of habitability and biosignatures.

Radiation Maps of Europa: Key to Future Missions

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Mission Dispatch: Using Radar to Study Earth and Europa – NASA's Europa Clipper
Parallel ice ridges, a common feature on Jupiter’s moon Europa, are also found on Greenland’s ice sheet.

Greenland Ice, Jupiter Moon Share Similar Feature

Jupiter’s moon Europa and its global ocean may currently have conditions suitable for life. Scientists are studying processes on the icy surface as they prepare to explore.

Surface of Jupiter's Moon Europa Churned by Small Impacts

Jupiter’s icy moon Europa may be the most promising place in the solar system to find present-day environments suitable for life beyond Earth. 

Europa: A World of Ice, With Potential for Life

Jupiter’s moon Europa has an icy crust covering a vast, global ocean. The rocky layer underneath may be hot enough to melt, leading to undersea volcanoes.

Europa's Interior May Be Hot Enough to Fuel Seafloor Volcanoes

Scientists have theorized on the origin of the water plumes possibly erupting from Jupiter's moon Europa. Recent research adds a new potential source to the mix.

Potential Plumes on Europa Could Come From Water in the Crust

New lab experiments re-create the environment of Europa and find that the icy moon shines, even on its nightside. The effect is more than just a cool visual.

Europa Glows: Radiation Does a Bright Number on Jupiter's Moon

The surface of Jupiter's moon Europa features a widely varied landscape, including ridges, bands, small rounded domes and disrupted spaces that geologists call "chaos terrain." Three newly reprocessed images, taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990s, reveal details in diverse surface features on Europa.

Newly Reprocessed Images of Europa Show 'Chaos Terrain' in Crisp Detail

Scientists discovered that the yellow color visible on portions of the surface of Europa is actually sodium chloride, a compound known on Earth as table salt, which is also the principal component of sea salt.

Table Salt Compound Spotted on Europa

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Europa Clipper High Gain Antenna Undergoes Testing at Langley
Radiation Maps of Europa: Key to Future Missions – NASA's Europa Clipper
As scientists plan for upcoming exploration of Europa, they have grappled with many unknowns: Where is the radiation most intense? How deep do the energetic particles go? How does radiation affect what’s on the surface and beneath — including potential chemical signs, or biosignatures, that could imply the presence of life.
A new scientific study, published today in Nature Astronomy, represents the most complete modeling and mapping of radiation at Europa and offers key pieces to the puzzle. The lead author is Tom Nordheim, research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.
“If we want to understand what’s going on at the surface of Europa and how that links to the ocean underneath, we need to understand the radiation,” Nordheim said. “When we examine materials that have come up from the subsurface, what are we looking at? Does this tell us what is in the ocean, or is this what happened to the materials after they have been radiated?”
Using data from Galileo’s flybys of Europa two decades ago and electron measurements from NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft, Nordheim and his team looked closely at the electrons blasting the moon’s surface. They found that the radiation doses vary by location. The harshest radiation is concentrated in zones around the equator, and the radiation lessens closer to the poles.
Mapped out, the harsh radiation zones appear as oval-shaped regions, connected at the narrow ends, that cover more than half of the moon.
“This is the first prediction of radiation levels at each point on Europa’s surface and is important information for future Europa missions,” said Chris Paranicas, a co-author from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
Now scientists know where to find regions least altered by radiation, which could be crucial information for the JPL-led Europa Clipper, NASA’s mission to orbit Jupiter and monitor Europa with about 45 close flybys. The spacecraft may launch as early as 2022 and will carry cameras, spectrometers, plasma and radar instruments to investigate the composition of the moon’s surface, its ocean, and material that has been ejected from the surface.
Surface of Jupiter's Moon Europa Churned by Small Impacts – NASA's Europa Clipper
The Sextant: Europa Clipper Newsletter

This color-enhanced image of Jupiter and two of its largest moons – Io and Europa – was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft as it performed its eighth flyby of the gas giant planet.

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NASA's upcoming mission to investigate the habitability of Jupiter's icy moon Europa now has a formal name: Europa Clipper.

NASA Mission Named 'Europa Clipper'

A mission to examine the habitability of Jupiter's ocean-bearing moon Europa is taking one step closer to the launchpad, with the recent completion of a major NASA review.

NASA's Europa Flyby Mission Moves into Design Phase

Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have imaged what may be water vapor plumes erupting off the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa. 

NASA's Hubble Spots Possible Water Plumes Erupting on Jupiter's Moon Europa

A new NASA study modeling conditions in the ocean of Jupiter's moon Europa suggests that the necessary balance of chemical energy for life could exist there, even if the moon lacks volcanic hydrothermal activity.

Europa's Ocean May Have An Earthlike Chemical Balance

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Thera and Thrace Macula on Europa 

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Spacecraft Makers: Simulating Space to Test Europa Clipper

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Europa's Interior May Be Hot Enough to Fuel Seafloor Volcanoes – NASA's Europa Clipper
As Europa Clipper measures the moon’s gravity and magnetic field, anomalies in those areas, especially toward the poles, could help confirm the volcanic activity predicted by the new research.
“The prospect for a hot, rocky interior, and volcanoes on Europa’s seafloor, increases the chance that Europa’s ocean could be a habitable environment,” said Robert Pappalardo, Europa Clipper project scientist. “We may be able to test this with Europa Clipper’s planned gravity and compositional measurements, which is an exciting prospect.”
More About the Mission
Missions such as Europa Clipper help 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. 
More information about Europa Clipper’s hardware and instruments, including new photos, can be found here:
On the Path Towards Unprecedented Science

News Media Contacts
Gretchen McCartney 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 
818-393-6215
gretchen.p.mccartney@jpl.nasa.gov 
Karen Fox / Alana Johnson
NASA Headquarters, Washington
301-286-6284 / 202-358-1501
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov

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Scientists have theorized on the origin of the water plumes possibly erupting from Jupiter's moon Europa. Recent research adds a new potential source to the mix.

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A full-scale prototype antenna, which at 10 feet tall is the same height as a standard basketball hoop, is in the Experimental Test Range (ETR) at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

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Europa Clipper Scale Model - 3D Print – NASA's Europa Clipper
The flight model of Europa Clipper’s Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE) instrument in a cleanroom at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California. 

MISE Assembly

Students explore the relationship between magnetism and electricity.

Discovering Alien Oceans: Magnetism

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Public Engagement Lead: 
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Social Media Lead: 
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