NASA to launch Europa Clipper on commercial rocket

Many planetary scientists believe that Europa might be our best bet for finding evidence of alien life in our own backyard. Although it’s a big backyard, and Europa Clipper’s planned mission needs a powerful rocket to reach the Jovian moon. Congress previously demanded that this mission be launched on the massively delayed Space Launch System (SLS), but NASA’s most recent budget untied the agency’s hands.

Europa Clipper is an ambitious long-term robotic mission that aims to closely study Europa through multiple orbital flyovers. NASA hopes to launch the spacecraft in 2024, sending it on a six-year trip to Jupiter. Once there, the spacecraft will spend at least four years swinging in front of Europa to scan its entire surface. The probe will also have tools to characterize the presumed underwater ocean under the cracked ice cap.

Ongoing issues to complete the SLS rocket have added uncertainty to Europa Clipper’s timeline, and NASA has not been allowed to explore alternatives. This restriction is due to the exchange of votes in Congress – a former US representative from Texas pushed funding for the Clipper mission, and he garnered Senate support from Republican Richard Shelby by including the SLS mandate. Home state of Shelby, Alabama has a large number of aerospace contractors who are expected to benefit from SLS.

NASA has urged Congress to reconsider this mandate, and it seems the message has finally gotten through. In the recently passed budget, the NASA section includes a change to the SLS mandate – it’s not gone, but NASA has a lot more leeway to explore alternative ways to bring the Europa Clipper into space. While NASA will still have to use the SLS if it is ready by 2024, the agency may instead use something like the SpaceX Falcon Heavy if the SLS is still late.

The space launch system was pushed by Congress as an alternative to the Constellation program that the Obama administration canceled in 2009. In return, the administration got the Commercial Crew Program, which recently managed to send astronauts. in the space. The SLS is expected to be the most powerful rocket in the world when completed, but it is an expensive single-use vehicle with an expected launch cost of over $ 2 billion. A Falcon Heavy launch would save NASA around $ 1.5 billion. Although the SLS has enough power for a direct flight to Jupiter, while the launch of the Falcon Heavy would involve planetary slingshot maneuvers.

It is unclear which direction NASA will go – the SLS is currently slated for its first test flight in 2021 with a crewed mission in 2023. If that holds up, NASA could still use the SLS for Europa Clipper. Fortunately, the agency will not be blocked in the event of further delays.

Now read: