NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft has successfully sent back its first images from space, marking a significant milestone in the mission. The orbiter captured a starfield mosaic using its pair of star tracker cameras, which transmitted three images on December 4, 2024.
The resulting image shows tiny pinpricks of light from stars 150 to 300 light-years away and provides only a small slice of the full sky around the spacecraft. By mapping these stars, the orbiter can determine its orientation.
This achievement signals the successful checkout of the star trackers and comes after the spacecraft launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on October 14, 2024. The mission aims to explore Europa’s icy shell, ocean, composition, and geology.
Led by Caltech in Pasadena, California, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is developing the Europa Clipper mission with collaboration from APL, JPL, Goddard Space Flight Center, Marshall Space Flight Center, and Langley Research Center. The mission will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond Earth.
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Source: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26561-first-images-from-nasas-europa-clipper