Skip Navigation
menu close modal

All Resources

Radar Test Time-Lapse

Source: NASA-JPL-Caltech
Published: September 8, 2021

In this time-lapse video, engineers test components for Europa Clipper’s radar instrument in 2018 at a testing range — “the Mesa” — at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Related

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
A 3D-printed mock-up of optical head and shielding for Europa Clipper’s stellar reference unit (or star tracker) going through contamination control and planetary protection sampling prior to enter...
More
A 3D-printed mock-up of optical head and shielding for Europa Clipper’s stellar reference unit (or star tracker) going through contamination control and planetary protection sampling prior to entering a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
3D-Printed Star Tracker Mock-Up
Engineers stand surrounding Europa Clipper’s narrow-angle camera.
More
Twelve engineers and technicians dressed in white protective “bunny suits” stand behind and beside to Europa Clipper’s narrow-angle camera (NAC). The NAC is on a platform with rods sticking straight up at the corners of the platform. It’s wrapped in silver-colored insulating material, it has a round base about the size of a tire. The lens is sticking out at an angle and is laced up inside the insulating material. Yellow tape on the floor marks the area around NAC. Equipment and gear sits on tables behind, and to the sides of the workers.
Europa Clipper's Narrow-Angle Camera Delivered to JPL
This view of Jupiter's icy moon Europa shows a region shaped like a mitten that has a texture similar to the matrix of chaotic terrain, which is seen in medium and high resolution images of numerou...
More
black and white view of depression in an surface
Mitten Shaped Region of Chaotic Terrain on Europa
Ridges disrupted by the localized formation of domes may be indicative of thermal upwelling of water from beneath Europa's crust.
More
Rugged terrain on Europa.
Dome-Shaped Features on Europa
Reddish spots and shallow pits pepper the enigmatic ridged surface of Europa.
More
Image of Europa surface
Ruddy "Freckles" on Europa
This animation segment shows the fairing separation after NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft leaves Earth. 
More
An animation showing the payload fairing, which is the nose cone used to protect a spacecraft payload during launch, separating and revealing the Europa Clipper spacecraft after launch.
Mission Animation: Fairing Separation
Depicted in this artist's concept against an illustration of a basketball court, Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever built for a planetary mission.
More
A dark gray model of Europa Clipper hovers above a yellowish orange illustration of a basketball court.
Europa Clipper: NASA's Largest Planetary Spacecraft (Artist's Concept)
The Europa Clipper Solar Array Mechanical Simulator is shown installed on the spacecraft’s propulsion module.
More
An image showing the Europa Clipper Solar Array Mechanical Simulator installed on the spacecraft’s propulsion module.
Solar Array Mechanical Simulator
New Horizons took this image of the icy moon Europa rising above Jupiter's cloud tops.
More
black and white view of half-illuminated moon over curving horizon of large planet
Europa Rising
This high resolution image of the icy crust of Europa reveals a surface crisscrossed by multiple sets of ridges and fractures. 
More
Various linear ridges on Europa as seen from orbit.
Europa's Crisscrossed Ridges and Fractures
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
Marc Miller, a mechanical assembly technician at the University of Colorado Boulder Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), gauges the depth of ceramic pins installed in the SUrface Du...
More
Marc Miller, a mechanical assembly technician at the University of Colorado Boulder Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), gauges the depth of ceramic pins installed in the SUrface Dust Analyzer (SUDA) instrument.
SUDA Assembly
Engineers and technicians lift the tall core of NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft during a maneuver to position it in the High Bay 1 clean room of the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at the agency’s Je...
More
In the center of the image, the main body of the Europa Clipper spacecraft hangs from a yellow crane in a large, multistoried cleanroom with white walls and a white ceiling. Six engineers in full-body coveralls and masks stand around the base of the main body as it hangs from the crane, with some working on the main body. In the distance, a viewing gallery is visible with four people watching the activities taking place.
The Lift: NASA's Europa Clipper Moves into Position
A collector assembly that will fly aboard Europa Clipper in one the four PIMS Faraday cups, which will help scientists study the charged particle (plasma) environment around Europa.
More
A collector assembly that will fly aboard Europa Clipper in one the four PIMS Faraday cups, which will help scientists study the charged particle (plasma) environment around Europa.
PIMS Collector Assembly
Reanalysis of old data data suggests that the Galileo spacecraft, on its closest flyby of Europa, flew through a plume.
More
Video describing new discoveries at Europa using old data.
Re-analyzing Old Data Reveals New Evidence at Europa
Meet Dipak Srinivasan, a communications systems engineer for NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft.
More
Video about an engineer that works on NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft.
NASA Job: Communications Systems Engineer — Behind the Spacecraft: Europa Clipper
Where's a great place to look for life in our solar system beyond Earth? Jupiter's moon, Europa, with its salty, global ocean, might be a good place to start.
More
An illustrated and audio description of possible life on Europa.
Europa - Cool Destination For Life?
Engineers and technicians install a high-gain antenna on NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft.
More
Workers on a raised platform move the Europa Clipper's high gain antenna, which is covered in aluminum colored protective material.
Europa Clipper's High-Gain Antenna Installed
Engineers and technicians work together to install reaction wheels on the underside of the main body of NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, which is in its assembly, test, and launch operations phase...
More
The main body of the spacecraft standing in a white clean room is the central component of this image. The tall structure is covered with protective covers to keep sensitive equipment safe during assembly and what looks like white paper, which is being used for patterning for the spacecraft’s protective insulation. Four engineers are seen under the base of the spacecraft, where they are installing the reaction wheels, as if they are working on the undercarriage of a car. Two engineers on the left are on their stomachs, and two engineers on the right are on their back.
NASA's Europa Clipper: Reaction Wheel Installation
A plasma instrument sensor assembly loaded into a thermal vacuum chamber.
More
A plasma instrument sensor assembly loaded into a thermal vacuum chamber.
Plasma Instrument Thermal Testing
In a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, engineers discuss testing for Europa Clipper’s star tracker.
More
In a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mana Salami, guidance and control (G&C) systems engineer (front left) and Herrick Chang, cognizant engineer (front right), discuss testing for Europa Clipper’s star tracker. At far left is G&C hardware engineer Gabrielle Massone. At far right sits quality assurance engineer Shaunessy Grant. Chang, Massone, Grant, and James Alexander (not pictured) escorted the hardware from the Sodern company in France to JPL.
Star Tracker Testing
The SUrface Dust Analyser (SUDA) instrument for Europa Clipper, shown during assembly and testing at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder.
More
The SUrface Dust Analyser (SUDA) instrument for Europa Clipper, shown during assembly and testing at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder.
SUDA Assembly and Testing
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) engineers align the upper and lower cylinders of Europa Clipper’s propulsion module for a fit check.
More
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) engineers align the upper and lower cylinders of Europa Clipper’s propulsion module for a fit check.
Propulsion Module Fit Check
Explore the intricate design of NASA's Europa Clipper vault plate in 3D: Spin the digital model to discover the languages of Earth, celestial equations, and a poem for Europa, all uniting art, scie...
More
A 3D model of the Vault Plate.
Vault Plate