NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft will fly past Mars today, gliding just 550 miles above the Red Planet’s surface. This maneuver is designed to adjust the spacecraft’s trajectory and position it for a critical phase in its 1.8-billion-mile journey to the Jupiter system. The probe’s destination is Europa, a moon coated with a shell of ice that conceals a vast, presumably salty ocean.
Scientists suspect this moon could harbor the ingredients needed for life. Europa Clipper, costing $5.2 billion, is NASA’s first mission dedicated to gathering data to help determine whether Europa and other ocean worlds could indeed be habitable. Europa Clipper, with its massive solar arrays, spans the length of a basketball court, making it the largest spacecraft the agency has ever built for a planetary mission.
Following its launch on October 14, 2024, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the spacecraft was initially placed on a path with some buffer room around the Red Planet to prevent collision risks right after launch. However, the spacecraft has operated flawlessly, allowing mission controllers to command it to approach Mars’ orbit in November of last year. Two additional maneuvers in January and February set the stage for today’s flyby.
The meticulously planned loop around Mars allows the spacecraft to harness the planet’s gravity without expending additional propellant.
Mars flyby boosts Europa mission
“It’s like a game of billiards around the solar system, flying by a couple of planets at just the right angle and timing to build up the energy we need to get to Jupiter and Europa,” said Ben Bradley, Europa Clipper mission planner at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The spacecraft will reach its closest point to Mars at 12:57 p.m. EST, traveling at speeds of approximately 15.2 miles per second. Before and after this moment, the probe will harness the gravity of Mars, alter its speed, and reshape its trajectory. Flying away from Mars, the spacecraft will clock in at about 14 miles per second.
This flyby also provides the mission team with an opportunity to test two onboard scientific instruments. Engineers plan to turn on the spacecraft’s thermal imager and test it by capturing multicolored images of Mars. Additionally, during its closest approach, Europa Clipper’s radar instrument will also be tested to ensure proper functionality.
The radar antennas are so massive that they could not be fully tested on Earth, making this flyby the first time all its components will be tested together. “We come in very fast, and the gravity from Mars acts on the spacecraft to bend its path,” said Brett Smith, a mission systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “Meanwhile, we’re exchanging a small amount of energy with the planet, so we leave on a path that will bring us back past Earth.”
That flyby around Earth is scheduled for December 2026 and will position the spacecraft for a straightforward trajectory to its destination, with arrival at the Jupiter system planned for April 2030.
Image Credits: Photo by Planet Volumes on Unsplash
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