NASA has published the first test images taken by the Europa Clipper. The stars of the constellation Corvus can be seen on them.
The Europa Clipper mission was launched in October 2024. Its target is Europa, a moon of Jupiter, which hides a huge ocean beneath its icy surface. It will get there in 2030.
To ensure smooth data transmission to Earth, engineers need to know the exact orientation of the spacecraft. For this purpose, the Europa Clipper was equipped with two devices called star trackers. These are cameras that look for stars and use them as a compass. This information helps ensure that the spacecraft’s antennas are pointed correctly at Earth.
In early December 2024, the Europa Clipper star trackers took their first images. They only cover about 0.1% of the entire sky around the spacecraft, but that’s enough to determine in which direction the spacecraft is pointing. The four brightest stars in the photo (Gienah, Algorab, Kraz, and Alchiba) are located between 50 and 150 light-years from Earth and are part of the constellation Corvus.
The star tracker’s photos were an important milestone in the verification and calibration of the Europa Clipper hardware. A total of nine scientific instruments are aboard the spacecraft, as well as telecommunications equipment that will be used for the gravity experiment.
The Europa Clipper will make a flyby of Mars as early as March 1. It will be the first in a series of several gravitational maneuvers that are needed to give the spacecraft the missing velocity and steer it toward Jupiter.
According to NASA
