Episode 71: Europa Clipper Mission

Technology Today

Southwest Research Institute

Technology

4.8 • 19 Ratings

🗓️ 16 September 2024

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

NASA’s Europa Clipper mission will investigate a vast saltwater ocean beneath the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. The spacecraft, equipped with nine instruments, will gather data in search of ingredients that support life. SwRI designed and built two of the instruments onboard Clipper, the Europa Ultraviolet Spectrograph and the Mass Spectrometer for Planetary Exploration. The mission could help answer big questions about the origin of life on Earth and whether that process can occur elsewhere in our solar system. The launch window for Clipper opens October 10 and the spacecraft is expected to enter Jupiter’s orbit in 2030. Listen now as SwRI space scientists Dr. Jim Burch and Dr. Kurt Retherford, principal investigators of SwRI’s Clipper instruments, talk about preparations before launch, mission goals, and the SwRI instruments contributing to our understanding of astrobiology, the study of the potential for life beyond our planet.

Transcript

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0:00.0	NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft will explore Jupiter's icy moon Europa.
0:05.6	The spacecraft is outfitted with sophisticated tools to investigate a vast ocean beneath the moon's surface and to determine if it can support life.
0:15.1	With the launch date approaching SWRI space scientists join us to discuss the journey to the Jovian satellite and the instruments their teams designed and built for the extraordinary mission.
0:27.0	That's next on this episode of Technology Today.
0:33.7	We live with technology, science, engineering, and the results of innovative research every day.
0:39.7	Now, let's understand it better.
0:41.5	You're listening to the Technology Today podcast presented by Southwest Research Institute.
0:46.9	From deep sea to deep space, we develop solutions to benefit humankind.
0:51.7	Transcript and photos for this episode and all episodes are available at
0:55.5	podcast.swri.org. Share the podcast and hit that subscribe button on your favorite podcast platform.
1:03.2	Hello and welcome to technology today. I'm Lisa Benia. NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft will
1:09.4	launch next month. The launch window opens October 10th.
1:13.1	The mission's purpose is to collect data and images to examine a vast saltwater ocean beneath
1:20.0	the surface of Jupiter's icy moon Europa to determine if it contains the ingredients to support
1:26.1	life. If Europa can support life, then there
1:29.6	could be life elsewhere in our solar system. Two SWRI instruments will make the journey to
1:36.2	Europa. Our guest today are SWRI space scientists, Dr. Jim Birch, who leads SWRI's space sector and is the principal investigator of Clippers
1:47.2	Mass Spectrometer for planetary exploration or mass specs, and Dr. Kurt Rutherford, Space Science
1:55.0	Senior Program Manager and Principal Investigator of the spacecraft's ultraviolet spectrograph or Europa UVS.
2:03.6	Thank you both for being here, Jim and Kurt.
2:06.1	Thanks, Lisa.
2:06.9	Happy to be here.
	...

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