Skip Navigation
menu close modal

All Resources

3D-Printed Star Tracker Mock-Up

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.
Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Published: February 23, 2022

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. Engineers are using this 3D-printed model to perform fit and tool access checks on Europa Clipper’s spacecraft structure to identify the best ways to install the star tracker’s cameras.

ENLARGE

Related

This video shows a test deployment of Europa Clipper’s high frequency (HF) radar antenna.
More
video of test deployment of Europa Clipper’s high frequency (HF) radar antenna
Europa Clipper REASON HF Radar Antenna Deployment
Jupiter and its four planet-size moons, called the Galilean satellites, were photographed in early March 1979 by Voyager 1 and assembled into this collage. 
More
Jupiter and its four largest moons
Jupiter System Montage
This is a high resolution picture of Jupiter's moon Europa. The area shown is about 5.9 by 9.9 miles (9.6 by 16 kilometers) and the smallest visible feature is about the size of a football field.
More
black and white view of rough terrain on an icy surface
Ridges on Europa
An engineer prepares to integrate the SUrface Dust Analyzer (SUDA)'s sensor head with an ion detector at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulde...
More
An image showing an engineer prepares to integrate the SUrface Dust Analyzer (SUDA)'s sensor head with an ion detector at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder. The sensor head will detect and determine the mass of ion molecules generated by impacting dust particles.
Dust Analyzer Sensor Head Integration
A 3D model of the SUrface Dust Analyzer (SUDA), a chemical analysis instrument on Europa Clipper.
More
3d model of the suda instrument
SUDA
This high resolution image of the icy plains on Europa shows multiple sets of crosscutting ridges.
More
Crisscrossed ridges as seen from above.
Europa Under Stress
This image shows a close-up view of terrain within the region of Europa's surface named Conamara.
More
Image of terrain on Europa
Conamara Color Closeup
This simulation shows possible spectroscopy results of Europa’s water plumes, obtained using the Webb telescope’s NIRSpec instrument.
More
Possible spectroscopy results of Europa’s water plumes
Possible Spectroscopy Results of Europa Using Webb
NASA’s Europa Clipper, with all of its instruments installed, is visible in the clean room of High Bay 1. 
More
NASA’s Europa Clipper, with all of its instruments installed, is visible in the clean room of High Bay 1 at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Jan. 19.
Europa Clipper Electromagnetic Testing
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
Radiation from Jupiter can destroy molecules on Europa's surface. 
More
Graphic showing radiation effects on Europa's icy surface.
Radiation on Europa (Artist's Rendering)
This composite view taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft shows the rim and interior of the impact crater, Mannann'an, on Jupiter's moon, Europa.
More
color view of icy terrain
Mannann'an Crater
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 is an artist's concept of a plume of water vapor thought to be ejected off the frigid, icy surface of the Jovian moon Europa.
More
plume erupting from icy surface with Jupiter in the sky
Artist's Concept of Europa Water Vapor Plume
Europa Clipper's propulsion module sits in the cleanroom at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.
More
Europa Clipper's propulsion module sits in the cleanroom at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
Europa Clipper Propulsion Module
Europa Clipper’s 28-foot (8.5-meter) magnetometer boom is unfurled at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
More
Several workers in white lab coats, cleanroom bouffant caps, and blue face masks work around Europa Clipper’s magnetometer boom after the boom was unfurled. Some of the workers are on the floor beneath the boom. Others are standing nearby. The boom is covered in protective silver-colored material and is supported by several aluminum-colored stands.
Europa Clipper Team Deploys Magnetometer Boom
This high resolution mosaic shows ridges, plains and mountains on Europa.
More
A high resolution mosaic in black and white.
Ridges, Plains and Mountains
This image of Jupiter's moon Europa shows a very complex terrain of ridges and fractures. 
More
Rugged horizontal lines.
Crosscutting Relationships of Surface Features on Europa
This view of Jupiter's moon Europa features several regional-resolution mosaics overlaid on a lower resolution global view for context.
More
high-resolution color images of terrain superimposed over a lower-resolution view of about half of Europa's surface
Repeated Flybys Yield a Pole-to-Pole View of Europa
Europa Clipper rolls into the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center on May 23, 2024.
More
Europa Clipper is rolled into the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility while workers stand nearby.
Europa Clipper Rolls Into KSC's Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility
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
An accelerometer is attached to a plasma instrument sensor assembly during a vibration test.
More
An accelerometer is attached to a plasma instrument sensor assembly during a vibration test.
Plasma Instrument Vibration Testing
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
This animation segment shows the deployment of NASA’s Europa Clipper ECM boom after launch.
More
This animation shows a boom expanding from the Europa Clipper spacecraft.
Mission Animation: ECM Boom Deployment (Close)
Europa Clipper's high-gain antenna is installed on Aug. 14, 2023.
More
Europa Clipper's high gain antenna, which is taller than the nearby workers, is covered in a protective shroud as it sits on a platform at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Powerful Antenna Installed On Europa Clipper