Europa Clipper's Trajectory to Jupiter

On its journey to the Jupiter system, NASA's Europa Clipper will take a path that swings past Mars, then Earth, using the gravity of each planet as a slingshot to boost the spacecraft's speed. All told, the journey will take about 5½ years, covering a distance of about 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers). In this diagram, the orbits of Jupiter, Mars, and Earth are shown as concentric rings. Europa Clipper's launch period begins on Oct. 10, 2024. If the spacecraft launches on a later date, the timing of its Mars and Earth gravity assist maneuvers will shift. For all liftoff dates within the launch period, however, the spacecraft is scheduled to begin orbiting Jupiter on April 11, 2030. Then it will begin its investigation of the gas giant's icy moon Europa. Europa Clipper's three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon's icy shell and its interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission's detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet. Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, NASA's Jet Propuls

Date

2024-11-26

Photographer / author

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Collection

JPL

Archive

NASA Image and Video Library

Type

photograph

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