Europa here we come: Colorado space instrument headed to Jupiter鈥檚 moon
An artist鈥檚 depiction of Europa Clipper passing over Jupiter鈥檚 moon Europa. (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
On Oct. 14, 2024, NASA鈥檚 flagship Europa Clipper spacecraft launched from Florida to begin its more than six-year journey to Jupiter鈥檚 icy moon Europa. Aboard the spacecraft is the , a $53 million instrument designed and built by the .
Europa Clipper will explore whether the moon harbors conditions that could support life. SUDA will play a vital role in that pursuit, collecting and analyzing tiny particles of ice flying above Europa. The gold-plated instrument is so accurate it can identify the compounds that make up those particles down to concentrations of just one part per million.
鈥淲here SUDA really flourishes is with detecting trace amounts of stuff embedded in ice,鈥 said Sascha Kempf, an associate professor in physics and at LASP.
Principal investigator
Sascha Kempf
Funding
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Collaboration + support
桃色视频鈥檚 JILA, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), Department of Physics; Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
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Europa here we come: Colorado space instrument headed to Jupiter鈥檚 moon