Skip Navigation
CLIPPER CAM
icon/broadcasting LIVE
menu close modal

All Resources

Europa Clipper's Europa Imaging System in the Works

This is an engineering model of Europa Clipper’s wide-angle camera, shown at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.
Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Published: September 8, 2021

A mechanical engineer in a clean room at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, installs the detector electronics for the engineering model of the Wide Angle Camera (WAC), one of two cameras that make up the Europa Imaging System (EIS). EIS is one of the science instruments that will fly aboard Europa Clipper. EIS data will offer fresh insights into Europa's geological structure and processes and will be used to search for evidence of recent or current geologic activity, including potential erupting plumes.

ENLARGE

Related

These 15 frames show the great variety of surface features on Jupiter's icy moon Europa.
More
Collection of orbital images shows rugged terrain.
Landscapes and Features of Europa
Solar array “wings” for NASA’s Europa Clipper in the cleanroom of Airbus in Leiden, the Netherlands.
More
The spacecraft’s large solar array wings take up the majority of this image. They are parallel to each other in position and the image is taken at angle, so you can see the solar arrays extended into the background of the image. Each solar array wing consists of five panels connected to each other to form a long solar array wing that is approximately 46.5 feet (14.2 meters) long. Bronze colored lines are visible creating a grid pattern on each panel. Each solar array wing is hoisted several feet above the ground by support structures that attach to each solar array wing panel. The solar array wings are tall with an approximate height of 13.5 feet (4.1 meters). Walking between the solar array wings is an engineer wearing blue protective clothing. The engineer doesn’t even appear to come up to half the height of the solar array wings. The solar array wings are visible in a large white cleanroom, and the area with the wings is cordoned off with a red barrier.
NASA Europa Clipper Solar Arrays Assembly
When it launches in October, NASA's Europa Clipper will carry a richly layered dispatch that includes more than 2.6 million names submitted by the public.
More
Video explaining Europa Clipper's special vault plate design.
NASA's Design for Message Heading to Jupiter's Moon Europa
This 12-frame mosaic provides the highest resolution view ever obtained of the side of Jupiter's moon Europa that faces the giant planet.
More
full-disc black and white view of moon
Europa's Jupiter-Facing Hemisphere
Build your own version of Europa Clipper, learning how each part of the spacecraft fits together as you go. 
More
Simple paper model of Europa Clipper available for download.
Europa Clipper Paper Model
This video shows a test deployment of Europa Clipper’s very high frequency (VHF) radar antenna.
More
video of a test deployment of Europa Clipper’s very high frequency (VHF) radar antenna
Europa Clipper REASON VHF Radar Antenna Deployment
This is a composite of two images of Jupiter's icy moon Europa obtained from a range of 2,119 miles (3,410 kilometers) by the Galileo spacecraft during its fourth orbit around Jupiter and its first...
More
rough terrain on an icy surface
Structurally Complex Surface of Europa
U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón is writing an original poem dedicated to NASA’s Europa Clipper mission.
More
U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón is standing in the center of this image, looking up. She is surrounded by consoles with screens and a sign on the back reads “Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology” next to the NASA meatball logo.
U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón Visits Mission Control at NASA's JPL
This graphic shows the location of water vapor detected over Europa's south pole that provides the first strong evidence of water plumes erupting off Europa's surface.
More
Illustration showing the location of water vapor emerging from the South Pole of Europa.
Water Vapor Plumes Over Europa
A 3D model of the Europa Imaging System (EIS), an imager on Europa Clipper.
More
3D model of the EIS instrument
EIS
The telescope housing for Europa Clipper’s E-THEMIS instrument.
More
The telescope housing for Europa Clipper’s E-THEMIS instrument.
E-THEMIS Telescope Housing
Dark and splotchy-looking terrain is evidence of some of the most recent geologic activity on Europa.
More
Ridges and smooth plains on Europa.
Chaotic Terrain on Europa
The Europa Clipper Solar Array Mechanical Simulator is shown installed on the spacecraft’s propulsion module.
More
Image showing Europa Clipper Solar Array Mechanical Simulator installed on the spacecraft’s propulsion module.
Solar Array Mechanical Simulator
U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón is writing an original poem dedicated to NASA’s Europa Clipper mission.
More
Limón is seen meeting with Laurie Leshin, Director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Clockwise from left to right: Ada Limón, U.S. Poet Laureate, Limón’s husband Lucas Marquardt, and Laurie Leshin, Director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The three of them are seen seated at a white conference table. Europa Clipper’s trajectory as it orbits Jupiter is inlaid into the table. Limón is visible on the left, wearing a dark blue suit. Marquardt is visible in the back, watching Limón as she speaks. Leshin is sitting on the right, wearing a floral print. Hanging on the wall to Limón’s left is a quilt.
U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón Meets NASA JPL Director Laurie Leshin
This video shows the installation of one of the main computers of the spacecraft.
More
Video showing the installation of hardware in a white clean room, with a silver box being hoisted and then moved.
Main Computer Installation
The picture compares four large impact structures on Jupiter's icy moon, Europa.
More
four black and white views of circular features on icy terrain
Large Impact Structures on Europa
Engineers integrate the avionics vault mass simulator for the Europa Clipper avionics module to the top of the propulsion module.
More
Engineers integrate the avionics vault mass simulator for the Europa Clipper avionics module to the top of the propulsion module.
Avionics Mass Simulator
Engineers work on Europa Clipper's electronics vault.
More
Three engineers wearing full-body coveralls, gloves, and masks use special tools to wipe fastener holes along the top edges of a hollow metal box about the size of a large living-room chair.
Electronics Vault
This beautiful image of the crescents of volcanic Io and more sedate Europa was snapped by New Horizons' color Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC).
More
color view of two crescent moons in dark space
Two Moons Meet over Jupiter
This three dimensional effect is created by superimposing images of Jupiter's moon, Europa, which were taken from two slightly different perspectives.
More
red-blue view of crater and surrounding terrain
Red-Blue Three Dimensional View of Pwyll Crater
Two major pieces of hardware – Europa Clipper’s vault, with the nadir deck attached – are prepared for a move to the High Bay 1 clean room of the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsi...
More
Two major pieces of flight hardware for the Europa Clipper spacecraft are attached to a flotron machine in a cleanroom. The hardware is visible in the rear middle of the images. The flotron is a large structure that allows the hardware to be rotated and moved for assembly purposes. The flight hardware consists of a large aluminum vault, which is shaped like a box. Within the vault, sensitive electronics will live, protecting them from radiation in Jupiter's environment. Attached the vault is a metal deck, called the nadir deck. Attached to this metal deck are multiple instrument sensors and cameras, which will allow the spacecraft to conduct science. Four engineers in full body coveralls and masks are seen working on flotron. An American flag is visible in the top left of the image.
NASA's Europa Clipper: Vault and Nadir Deck on Their Way
The imaging spectrometer's scanning mirror and data procesing unit are loaded onto a shipping truck. 
More
Members of Europa Clipper’s imaging spectrometer instrument, called MISE, team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory place a container loading the instrument’s scanning mirror and data processing unit on a shipping truck. The truck transported the instrument parts to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, in November 2021.
Imaging Spectrometer Component Shipping
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 narrow-angle camera, shown at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.
More
An engineering model of Europa Clipper’s narrow-angle camera, shown at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.
Europa Imaging System Narrow Angle Camera
A 3D model of Europa Clipper’s Ultraviolet Spectrograph (Europa-UVS), a spectrometry instrument on Europa Clipper.
More
3D model of the europa-uvs instrument
Europa-UVS