All articles tagged with #europa clipper
A new look at Galileo data detected faint ammonia near Europa’s fractures, implying a subsurface ocean or ammonia-laden shallow layers and boosting the case for habitability; the upcoming Europa Clipper mission will continue to search for chemical signs of life.
Space.com guides readers to spot four legendary spacecraft—James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Europa Clipper, JUICE, and Voyager 1—in January’s night sky, with finder charts and timing tips (including JWST’s path from Orion toward Jupiter and the planet’s January opposition). The piece also suggests using timeanddate or stargazing apps (Starry Night, Stellarium) for precise rise/set times and locations, and adds bonus targets around Orion’s Belt and the Orion Nebula.
NASA's Europa Clipper mission observed interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS using its ultraviolet spectrograph, revealing unexpected details about its tails and composition, and providing valuable insights into this intriguing object as it moves away from the Solar System.
NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft, during its journey to Jupiter, observed interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS from a unique vantage point, capturing detailed images of its tails and gaining insights into its composition and behavior as it passes close to the Sun, with additional observations from ESA's JUICE spacecraft enhancing the data.
NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft used its UVS instrument to observe the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS from an unexpected vantage point, capturing unique data on its tails and composition, which may shed light on its origin and the processes shaping such comets from other star systems.
NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft observed the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS near perihelion on November 6, 2025, capturing data on its gas plume and tail structure using ultraviolet spectroscopy, providing unique insights from a vantage point blocked to Earth-based observations.
Scientists have proposed that the mysterious spider-like feature observed on Europa's surface, initially thought to be a structure within a crater, may have formed through processes similar to Earth's lake stars, but likely resulted from an asteroid impact that created cracks allowing salty water to seep through, providing insights into Europa's subsurface and potential signs of extraterrestrial life.
Scientists predict that the Europa Clipper spacecraft may soon detect charged particles from the ion tail of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS during a specific alignment between Oct. 30 and Nov. 6, offering a rare opportunity to study material from beyond our solar system, though this depends on the resolution of ongoing US government shutdown issues.
NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft successfully tested its ice-penetrating radar system during a Mars flyby, confirming its readiness for its main mission to explore Europa for subsurface water and potential habitability, with the radar capturing echoes from Mars' surface and producing valuable data for future exploration.
NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft tested its radar during a flyby of Mars, using the planet's proximity to calibrate instruments ahead of its 2030 mission to Europa. The successful test involved bouncing radio waves off Mars and collecting data, helping scientists prepare for detailed studies of Europa's icy shell, composition, and structure. The spacecraft, launched in October 2024, aims to explore whether Europa's environment could support life.
NASA's Europa Clipper radar instrument successfully tested during a Mars flyby, demonstrating its capability to study Europa's icy shell and underlying ocean, paving the way for future exploration of potential habitability on the moon.
NASA's Europa Clipper mission successfully tested its REASON radar instrument during a Mars flyby, demonstrating its capability to probe beneath Europa's icy surface and aiding future exploration of the moon's subsurface ocean, with promising results for the upcoming mission to Jupiter's Europa.
NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft captured a rare infrared image of Mars and its moons Phobos and Deimos during a flyby, providing valuable data for its mission to explore Jupiter's moon Europa and testing its thermal camera. The image offers a unique view of the planetary trio and helps refine the spacecraft's instruments for future exploration.
A new hypothesis suggests that the collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter in 1994 may have left the planet with a new, thin ring. The comet's fragments, which were the first observed hitting another Solar System body, could have generated dust particles that settled into a ring around Jupiter. This proposal, presented by Professor Mihaly Horanyi, awaits confirmation from NASA's Europa Clipper mission, which will study Jupiter and its moons in 2030.
NASA's Europa Clipper mission, launched on October 14 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, is currently 20 million km from Earth and has begun deploying its instruments. The spacecraft will travel over 2.9 billion km, performing flybys of Mars and Earth before reaching Jupiter to conduct detailed studies of its moon Europa. Key components like solar arrays and a magnetometer boom have been successfully deployed, with more instruments to be activated in the coming weeks. The mission aims to explore Europa's potential for harboring life.