[아이뉴스24 정종오 기자] Another milestone in the history of space is expected to be made in 2024.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently announced that it has begun assembly work for the Europa probe ‘Clipper’, which is scheduled to be launched in 2024. Europa is a celestial body that is supposed to have oceans under thick ice. Since there is liquid water, life is likely to exist.
When combined, the Europa Clipper is about the size of an SUV (sport utility vehicle). When unfolded, the solar panel is the size of a basketball court. On the way to Jupiter, it gets its energy through large solar panels. Many of the spaceships are built by hand.
Assembling is in progress in the clean room of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, USA. The flight hardware, including nine scientific instruments, is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
“Every piece is taking the stage of assembling into a flight system,” said Jan Chodas, head of NASA’s Europa Clipper project.
There is a reason space scientists are paying attention to Jupiter’s moon Europa. Europa is estimated to have twice as many oceans as Earth’s combined oceans. It is an environment in which living things can live. The Clipper orbits Jupiter, making several close-range flights over Europa. It collects data on Europa’s atmosphere, surface and interior. From the depth and salinity of the ocean, to the thickness of the ice crust, to the water vapor columns that can drain groundwater into space.
After assembly, the Europa Clipper is moved to the jet propulsion laboratory’s massive thermal vacuum chamber to test the harsh environment of deep space. A robust vibration test is also included. After all tests are complete, the Europa Clipper plans to travel to Cape Canaveral, Florida, for a launch in October 2024.
There is another reason to focus on the Europa Clipper. It aims to conduct close reconnaissance on Europa and investigate whether an icy satellite with an underground ocean has the ability to contain life. Understanding Europa’s habitability could help scientists understand how life evolved on Earth. It will also help us better understand the possibility of finding life beyond Earth.
Meanwhile, the Hubble Space Telescope has drawn attention by photographing a plume of water vapor ejecting from Europa several times. In the current solar system, it is predicted that liquid water will exist on Saturn’s moon Titan and Enceladus along with Europa.