staff@slashgear.com (Georgina Torbet)
2024-04-21 06:45:19
www.slashgear.com
The Europa Clipper spacecraft recently went through a battery of tests called environmental testing, which simulates the space environment to check whether there are any issues that could result in the spacecraft being damaged or unable to complete its mission. Over the course of 16 days, the spacecraft underwent tests like being put inside a thermal vacuum chamber that recreates the vacuum of space. One challenge was simply getting the spacecraft to fit inside the chamber, which is 85 feet tall and 25 feet wide. Fully deployed, the spacecraft’s arms spread over more than 100 feet, so these weren’t included in the test chamber, but even without the arms Clipper was still one of the largest spacecraft ever put into the chamber.
As well as a vacuum, the spacecraft was exposed to high temperatures using powerful lamps, which simulate the blasting rays of the sun that the spacecraft will experience on one side as it travels through space, particularly when it is close to Earth. As it travels out toward Jupiter, the rays of the sun will become less powerful as it gets further away.
“These were the last big tests to find any flaws,” said Europa Clipper project manager Jordan Evans of NASA JPL. “Our engineers executed a well-designed and challenging set of tests that put the system through its paces. What we found is that the spacecraft can handle the environments that it will see during and after launch. The system performed very well and operates as expected.”