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Mission Animation: Solar Arrays Deployment

Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Published: May 16, 2022

This animation segment shows the deployment of NASA’s Europa Clipper solar arrays after launch.

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Europa Clipper's propulsion module rotates on a stand in the cleanroom at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.
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video of Europa Clipper's propulsion module rotating in a cleanroom
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Engineers set up the Europa Imaging System (EIS) wide-angle camera for vibration testing. 
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Two engineers in a cleanroom at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory assemble sensors for Europa Clipper's image system's wide angle camera for vibration testing.
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Engineers remove a protective cover from Europa Clipper’s narrow-angle camera.
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In the center of the image, four technicians are seen lifting off a square, white protective cover from a white container that holds Europa Clipper’s narrow-angle camera. The engineers are wearing white full-body coveralls, including blue face masks. Two are facing away from the camera and two are facing the camera. The two closest to the camera have APL written on the back of the coveralls, which stands for “Applied Physics Lab”. Another worker in a white bunny suit and dark blue hood stands off to the right side of the image. A wall clock is to the right of his head. To the far left of the image, two people in bunny suits are recording the moment: One person is holding a video camera, and the other is holding a smartphone. A toolbox is against a wall on the left side of the room.
Europa Clipper's Narrow-Angle Camera Delivered to JPL
Engineers inspect Europa Clipper's ultraviolet spectrograph in a cleanroom at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California after delivery.
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Image showing engineers inspecting the spacecraft's ultraviolet spectrograph in a cleanroom.
Engineers Inspect Europa Clipper's Ultraviolet Spectrograph
Researchers at Langley prepare to move the high gain antenna for  into the Experimental Test Range at the NASA Langley Research Center. 
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Researchers stand next to Europa Clipper’s high gain antenna, which is taller than a person and is painted dark black, as they prepare to move it into a testing facility.
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The Europa Clipper Solar Array Mechanical Simulator is shown installed on the spacecraft’s propulsion module.
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An image showing the Europa Clipper Solar Array Mechanical Simulator installed on the spacecraft’s propulsion module.
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Students will explore the practical applications of exponents and division to investigate what it takes for NASA spacecraft to travel deep into the solar system using only solar power.
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NASA's Juno spacecraft is visible in front of Jupiter, which appears as a large planet looming in the distance. All three of Juno's solar arrays are visible
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This animation segment shows NASA’s Europa Clipper flying by Mars during its Mars gravity assist. 
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An animations showing the spacecraft flying by Mars during its Mars Gravity Assist, which will further propel the spacecraft toward Jupiter.
Mission Animation: Mars Gravity Assist
Engineers stand surrounding Europa Clipper’s narrow-angle camera.
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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.
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A 3D model of the Europa Thermal Emission Imaging System (E-THEMIS), an imager on Europa Clipper.
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3D model of the E-THEMIS instrument
E-THEMIS
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...
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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
The ultraviolet spectrograph will collect ultraviolet light and create images to help determine the composition of Europa’s atmospheric gases and surface materials
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The ultraviolet spectrograph will collect ultraviolet light and create images to help determine the composition of Europa’s atmospheric gases and surface materials
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An engineering model of Europa Clipper's MASPEX instrument.
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An engineering model of Europa Clipper's MASPEX instrument.
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The animation shows the geometry of the magnetic field created within Europa’s subsurface ocean as Europa moves through Jupiter’s magnetic field.
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animation of the magnetic field created within Europa’s subsurface ocean as Europa moves through Jupiter’s magnetic field
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The outward-facing side of Europa Clipper's vault plate shows waveforms symbolizing the word 'water' in multiple languages.
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An image of the Europa Clipper vault plate, highlighted from the upper left corner casting shadows that emphasize engraved waveforms emanating from a central point symbolizing the word 'water' in multiple languages. The waveforms present as audio frequency waves. The vault plate is metal silver and the engravings are black, set against a black background.
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Europa Clipper engineers use mixed reality (also known as augmented reality, or AR) headsets to examine Europa Clipper’s avionics module assembly in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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Europa Clipper engineers use mixed reality (also known as augmented reality, or AR) headsets to examine Europa Clipper’s avionics module assembly in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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This animation segment shows the deployment of NASA’s Europa Clipper ECM boom after launch.
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An animation showing the deployment of a boom from the Europa Clipper spacecraft.
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A 3D model of Europa Clipper. 
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3D model of Europa Clipper
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Europa Clipper’s surface dust analyzer instrument was delivered to JPL in September 2022. 
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A large group of engineers in full white body coveralls stand surrounding Europa Clipper’s surface dust analyzer. All the engineers are giving a “thumbs up” hand gesture to indicate that the instrument was successfully delivered. Nine engineers stand to the left of a silver workbench, on which the instrument rests, and six stand to the right of the workbench. 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.
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Engineers prepare Europa Clipper's thermal imager for a series of tests in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory following delivery.
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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
Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) Staff Engineer Yvette Tyler performs integration and testing on the electronics box for Europa Clipper’s mass spectrometer. 
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Image showing Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) Staff Engineer Yvette Tyler performs integration and testing on the electronics box for Europa Clipper’s mass spectrometer. The mass spectrometer will analyze gases in Europa’s faint atmosphere and possible plumes. It will study the chemistry of the moon’s suspected subsurface ocean, how ocean and surface exchange material, and how radiation alters compounds on the moon’s surface. Credit: NASA/SwRI
Mass Spectrometer Electronics Box
Europa Clipper’s power control and distribution assembly is lowered into the spacecraft’s electronics vault. 
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In a sterile white room, five people wearing white full-body coveralls, gloves, and masks monitor a metal box about the size of a microwave oven as a crane lowers the box in to a larger hollow metal box about six feet wide.
Power Control and Distribution Assembly Integration
Engineers stand next to Europa Clipper's plasma detection instrument in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, following its delivery in June 2022. 
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A group of engineers in full white coveralls with masks stand in a clean room. Several engineers are giving a thumbs up hand gesture. They are standing around two faraday cups, part of the spacecraft's plasma detection instrument, following functional tests performed after the instrument was delivered to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern, California.
Plasma Detection Instrument Delivered to JPL
The Europa Imaging System (EIS) wide-angle-camera team took its “first light” image with the telescope and detector in December 2021.
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The wide-angle camera team is captured in the instrument's first light test at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
Wide Angle Camera First Light
One of Europa Clipper’s star tracker electronics boxes (the bronze-colored cube at center) sits in a JPL clean room for testing.
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One of Europa Clipper’s star tracker electronics boxes (the bronze-colored cube at center) sits in a JPL clean room for testing in October 2021. After the spacecraft’s launch in October 2024, the star tracker will autonomously identify stars to determine Europa Clipper’s orientation in space. The device is essential for precisely pointing the spacecraft’s science instruments and communication antennas.
Star Tracker Electronics Box