Presented by ALFRED MCEWEN,  LPL, PLANETARY IMAGE RESEARCH LAB

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

ABSTRACT

With launch planned in October 2024, NASA’s Europa Clipper will explore the habitability of Jupiter’s moon Europa. Arriving at Jupiter in 2030, the spacecraft will orbit Jupiter, flying by Europa more than 40 times over a four-year period to observe this moon’s ice shell and ocean, study its composition, investigate its geology, and search for and characterize any current activity. The mission’s science objectives will be accomplished using a highly capable suite of remote-sensing and in-situ instruments. The remote sensing payload consists of the Europa Ultraviolet Spectrograph (Europa-UVS), the Europa Imaging System (EIS), the Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE), the Europa Thermal Imaging System (E-THEMIS), and the Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON). The in-situ instruments comprise the Europa Clipper Magnetometer (ECM), the Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding (PIMS), the SUrface Dust Analyzer (SUDA), and the MAss Spectrometer for Planetary Exploration (MASPEX). Gravity and radio science will be achieved using the spacecraft’s telecommunication system.  The spacecraft and payload are currently nearly complete, and system testing is underway. The Jupiter tour is complete, and work is beginning on detailed science planning to achieve the science objectives, which require multiple science instruments.  The project has a “one science team” philosophy, which will be an interesting experiment for this type of mission.  There are extensive plans for inclusion of a diverse community.

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023   |   12 PM NOON (MST)   |   HYBRID (SO N305 & ZOOM)

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ORIGINS SEMINAR SERIES

The Origins Seminar series aims to bring together ISM, star and planet formation people, exoplanets experts, planetary scientists and astrobiologists including topics from molecular clouds through star and planet formation to exoplanets detection and characterization and astrobiology.

The seminar series is organized by Serena Kim (SO), Sebastiaan Haffert (SO), and Sarah Moran (LPL) from Steward Observatory/Dept. of Astronomy and Dept. of Planetary Sciences (LPL) at the University of Arizona. The Origins Seminar series is partly supported by the Earths in Other Solar Systems NExSS team.

During regular semesters, talks are generally from 12pm – 1:00pm (MST) on Mondays. 12PM Arizona Time (MST) = 12pm PDT = 3pm EDT = 7pm UTC. If you want to receive weekly updates and advertisements for talks, please subscribe to the mailing list.  If you are interested in presenting your work during one of the open slots (see below), feel free to contact the organizers: serena00 at arizona.edu, shaffert at arizona.edu, sarahemoran at arizona.edu.

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