The Europa Clipper mission will blast off from the Kennedy Space Center and arrive at the gas giant in 2030, before conducting dozens of fly-bys.
It comes after the plan was questioned over fears that the transistors used on various parts of the spacecraft wouldn’t be able to handle the radiation near Jupiter.
“I am thrilled to say that we are confident that our beautiful spacecraft and capable team are ready for launch operations and our full science mission at Europa,” Laurie Leshin, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), said on Monday.
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NASA initially discovered in May that the transistors, known as metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs), could fail at radiation doses lower than qualified for.
However, after four months of testing, engineers concluded the spacecraft would only be in the radiation danger zone for a small percentage of its mission time and would therefore be able to recover.
“We concluded, after all of this testing, that during our orbits around Jupiter, while Europa Clipper does dip into the radiation environment, once it comes out, it comes out long enough for those transistors the opportunity to heal and partially recover between fly-bys,” project manager Jordan Evans said.
Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever built, spanning 30 metres from end to end. It will carry nine science instruments that are designed to study Europa’s icy surface to determine if it is capable of supporting life.
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It comes days after NASA celebrated Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft safely returning from the ISS without crew.
Crucially, NASA reported no issues with its manoeuvres, with all 27 working thrusters performing as expected and the spacecraft following a “perfect trajectory” home.
The textbook landing ends one of the most high-profile incidents in NASA’s recent history, after it decided to return the Boeing-made spacecraft uncrewed following a string of technical problems both before and during its outward journey in June.
However, the decision means the two astronauts onboard will now not return until February – eight months after they blasted off for what was meant to be a one-week mission.
Ken Bowersox, a NASA associate administrator, heaped praise on the team for bringing Starliner back safely.
“Even though it was necessary to return the spacecraft uncrewed, NASA and Boeing learned an incredible amount about Starliner in the most extreme environment possible,” he said.
“NASA looks forward to our continued work with the Boeing team to proceed toward certification of Starliner for crew rotation missions to the space station.”
Adam Thorn
Adam is a journalist who has worked for more than 40 prestigious media brands in the UK and Australia. Since 2005, his varied career has included stints as a reporter, copy editor, feature writer and editor for publications as diverse as Fleet Street newspaper The Sunday Times, fashion bible Jones, media and marketing website Mumbrella as well as lifestyle magazines such as GQ, Woman’s Weekly, Men’s Health and Loaded. He joined Momentum Media in early 2020 and currently writes for Australian Aviation and World of Aviation.
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