NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft has successfully deployed its star trackers, a pair of cameras that help the orbiter determine its orientation in space. The first images captured by the star trackers show tiny pinpricks of light from stars 150 to 300 light-years away. This achievement signals the successful checkout of the star trackers, which are critical for pointing telecommunications antennas toward Earth and sending data back and forth smoothly.
The Europa Clipper spacecraft is currently 1.6 billion miles (2.6 billion kilometers) away from Jupiter’s orbit, with a journey that will take three more years to complete. The orbiter will use its star trackers to orient itself correctly before taking close-up images of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa in 2030.
The starfield captured by the star trackers includes four brightest stars from the constellation Corvus, which is Latin for “crow.” This achievement marks a significant milestone in the mission’s guidance, navigation and control operations led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Engineers will use the information from the star tracker images to determine where the spacecraft is pointed, ensuring that the science instruments are correctly aligned. The Europa Clipper spacecraft carries nine science instruments, including the sophisticated Europa Imaging System (EIS), which will collect images that help scientists map and examine Europa’s mysterious fractures, ridges, and valleys.
The mission aims to explore Europa’s icy shell and ocean interactions, its composition, and geology, providing insights into the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond Earth. With its successful star tracker deployment, NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft is one step closer to unlocking the secrets of Jupiter’s icy moon.
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/missions/europa-clipper/en-route-to-jupiter-nasas-europa-clipper-captures-images-of-stars