NASA Tests Europa Clipper Plane's Resilience On JPL

Europa Clipper Testing (photo: dock. NASA)

JAKARTA NASA is preparing for the Europa Clipper exploration mission on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). As long as prepared, Europa has passed various core tests, one of which is environmental testing. Testing of this environment is carried out to find out whether Europa is capable of surviving in extreme outer space. Therefore, testing includes vibrations, cold, no air, electromagnetic fields, and much more. Europa Clipper Project Manager, Jordan Evans, said that environmental testing is the last major test that needs to be done. This testing stage is very important because technicians can find a shortage of such aircraft. "What we found is that the spacecraft can handle the environment it will see during and after launch. The system works very well and operates as expected," Evans explained, quoted from NASA's blog. In addition to being the most important test, testing of the environment is the most complicated test because it takes up to 16 days. What's more, Europa Clipper is the largest aircraft NASA has ever built for planetary missions. The Europaese plane has also entered a thermal vacuum space that has no air. While in that room, technicians explained the very high temperature as if the plane was facing the Sun. "There is still work to be completed, but we are on the right track to launch it on time, Evans said.' The fact that this test is very successful is a very large positive thing and helps us to rest easily."

The Europa Clipper will launch in less than six months, to be precise at the end of spring this year. The aircraft will launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch window will open on October 10. After launch, the Europa Clipper will move towards Mars and approach Jupiter by 2030. The aircraft will orbit Jupiter and cross its moon, namely Europa, for 49 times. The aircraft will collect data using its science instruments. The collection of data conducted by the Clipper is expected to be able to answer questions about the signs of life on that month. The Clipper will also determine the thickness of the ice sheet and investigate the composition of its ice ocean.