Skip Navigation
menu close modal

Activities & Educational Resources

Europa Clipper Propulsion Module

Europa Clipper Propulsion Module arrival at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
Source: Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman
Published: July 12, 2021

Europa Clipper's propulsion module is offloaded from its transportation trailer following its arrival at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory on June 23, 2021.

Related

Students explore the relationship between magnetism and electricity.
More
A person is seen holding two wires, one in each hand, and they are putting the wires into a clear plastic cup filled with water.
Discovering Alien Oceans: Magnetism
This composite image of the Jupiter-facing hemisphere of Europa was obtained on Nov. 25, 1999 by two instruments onboard NASA's Galileo spacecraft. 
More
colors superimposed on black and white terrain that represent chemical compostion
Europa: Sea Salts or Battery Acid
A test model of the boom that will be used for the magnetometer aboard NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft is readied in NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
More
A test model of the boom that will be used for the magnetometer aboard NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft is readied in NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
Europa Clipper Magnetometer (ECM) Boom
Europa Clipper’s spectrometer, Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE), is seen in the midst of assembly in a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. MISE will analyze infrared light...
More
The Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE), is shown here in the midst of assembly in a clean room at JPL.
The Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE) Science Instrument
Engineers and technicians move the vault plate into position for installation on NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft on May 3, 2024.
More
Two technicians in white protective clothing hold the Europa Clipper Vault Plate as they position it for installation on the spacecraft.
Placing the Europa Clipper Vault Plate
In a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, engineers handle Europa Clipper’s newly installed star trackers.
More
Four engineers wearing white full-body coveralls, gloves, and masks, handle a flat metal structure a few inches thick, to which are attached two telescopes a foot or more long, while a fifth worker in identical attire stands to the side, holding hand-held controls for the crane that’s lofting the hardware.
Star Tracker Integration
Engineers prepare Europa Clipper's thermal imager for a series of tests in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory following delivery.
More
An engineer’s gloved hand on the casing holding the thermal imager instrument, located on a table in a clean room, preparing it for functional testing.
Thermal Imager Delivered to JPL
This color image of the Jovian moon Europa was acquired by Voyager 2 during its close encounter on Monday morning, July 9, 1979. 
More
color view of cracked, icy surface
Europa During Voyager 2 Closest Approach
Technicians offload NASA's Europa Clipper from a U.S. Air Force transport aircraft at Kennedy Space Center on May 23, 2024.
More
The back of a green transport aircraft is open like a giant duck's bill, and the shipping container hold Europa Clipper can be seen sitting inside. A ramp extends from the back of the plane. Workers are giving hand signals as they guide the shipping container off the plane.
Europa Clipper Arrives in Florida
This animation segment shows the deployment of NASA’s Europa Clipper REASON instrument after launch.
More
Animation showing the REASON antennas extending from the front and back of both sides of the spacecraft's solar arrays.
Mission Animation: REASON Deployment
Europa Clipper’s surface dust analyzer instrument is examined following delivery to JPL in September 2022.
More
An engineer in a full body coverall and a fask mask is shown on the left side of the image, holding a small black flashlight the size of a pen and examining Europa Clipper’s surface dust analyzer instrument. The instrument is gold colored and about the size of a drum, resting on its side. The instrument is resting upon a silver workbench in the cleanroom.
Europa Clipper's Dust Analyzer Delivered to JPL
In this lab activity, students become materials scientists for a day.
More
NASA's Cassini spacecraft is visible in front of Saturn's moon Enceladus, which is seen as a white, frosty glove with plumes in the lower left of the moon. The space around it has a purple color.
Classroom Activity: Spacecraft Materials and the Chemistry of Space Exploration
This impact scar on Europa is about the size of the island of Hawaii.
More
Ridged impact scar on Europa.
Ancient Impact Basin on Europa
This view of the icy surface of Jupiter's moon, Europa, is a mosaic of two pictures taken by the Solid State Imaging system on board the Galileo spacecraft during a close flyby of Europa on Feb. 20...
More
black and white view of ridges on an icy surface
Mosaic of Europa's Ridges, Craters
A 3D model of the Europa Thermal Emission Imaging System (E-THEMIS), an imager on Europa Clipper.
More
3D model of the E-THEMIS instrument
E-THEMIS
A worker kneels beside Europa Clipper’s narrow-angle camera.
More
A worker kneels beside the Europa Clipper’s narrow-angle camera (NAC), which is on a metal platform with rods sticking straight up at the corners of the platform. The worker is covered head-to-toe in white protective clothing called a bunny suit. The worker is wearing a blue head covering, and a bright blue face mask. The NAC is wrapped in silver-colored insulating material, it has a round base about the size of tire. The lens is sticking out at an angle and is laced up inside the insulating material.
Europa Clipper's Narrow-Angle Camera Delivered to JPL
An engineering model of Europa Clipper's MASPEX instrument.
More
An engineering model of Europa Clipper's MASPEX instrument.
MAss Spectrometer for Planetary EXploration/Europa (MASPEX)
The optical head for Europa Clipper’s stellar reference unit, or star tracker, in a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 
More
The optical head for Europa Clipper’s stellar reference unit, or star tracker, in a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Star Tracker Optical Head
A plasma instrument sensor assembly is mounted on a vibration table.
More
A plasma instrument sensor assembly is mounted on a vibration table.
Plasma Instrument Vibe Testing
This is an image from Europa Clipper’s thermal imager science instrument. The image was taken during the instrument's first-light test.
More
An image from Europa Clipper’s thermal imager science instrument (called E-THEMIS).
Thermal Imager's First Light Image
We are on the cusp of exploring what may be the best place in our solar system to look for life beyond Earth.
More
illustrated poster of the Europa Clipper spacecraft silhouetted above Europa with Jupiter in the background
Europa Clipper: Journey to an Ocean World Poster
One of the Europa Clipper magnetometer's three fluxgate sensors, which will measure the strength and orientation of Europa's magnetic fields.
More
An octagonal device about the size of a small toaster sits on a laboratory table before a worker wearing a white full-body covering in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Magnetometer Fluxgate Assembly
A 3D model of the MAss Spectrometer for Planetary EXploration/Europa (MASPEX), a chemical analysis instrument on Europa Clipper.
More
3d model of maspex instrument
MASPEX
A 3D model of the Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE), a spectrometry instrument on Europa Clipper. 
More
3D model of the MISE instrument
MISE
Jupiter's moon Europa, as seen in this image taken June 27, 1996 by NASA's Galileo spacecraft, displays features in some areas resembling ice floes seen in Earth's polar seas. 
More
cracked, icy surface in black and white
Europa's Broken Ice