NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft successfully tested its radar system, REASON (Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface), during a close Mars flyby. The radar system performed flawlessly, bouncing signals off the Martian surface and confirming its readiness to scan Europa’s ice shell for signs of a hidden ocean.
The 60GB of data gathered from the test not only validated the hardware but also provided researchers with an early opportunity to fine-tune their analytical tools before the spacecraft reaches Jupiter’s icy moon in 2030. Scientists are thrilled with the results, as they demonstrate that REASON is ready to detect pockets of water within Europa’s thick ice shell and possibly identify the vast ocean believed to lie beneath it.
“We got everything out of the flyby that we dreamed,” said Don Blankenship, principal investigator of the radar instrument at the University of Texas at Austin. “The goal was to determine the radar’s readiness for the Europa mission, and it worked.”
The radar data will help researchers investigate how material from Europa’s subsurface ocean might rise through the ice and reach the surface. It will also enable scientists to study surface features like ridges and examine how they connect with structures detected below the ice.
REASON is a unique radar setup for an interplanetary spacecraft, using two pairs of slender antennas that jut out from the solar arrays. The instrument team conducted extensive testing before the launch, but this first test in space was crucial to validate its performance.
The Europa Clipper mission aims to explore Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, one of the most promising places in our solar system to search for signs of life. Scheduled to arrive in the early 2030s, the spacecraft will conduct nearly 50 flybys of Europa, using a powerful suite of instruments to investigate the moon’s ice shell, subsurface ocean, composition, and surface geology.
As the spacecraft approaches its destination, scientists are eagerly anticipating the data from REASON. With this first test in space a success, they can now begin fine-tuning their analytical tools and preparing for the next phase of the mission.
Source: https://scitechdaily.com/nasas-new-radar-just-pulled-off-something-impossible-on-earth