{"id":215767,"date":"2025-05-13T03:11:42","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T17:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?p=861980"},"modified":"2025-05-13T03:11:42","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T17:11:42","slug":"nasas-europa-clipper-captures-mars-in-infrared-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=215767","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Europa Clipper Captures Mars in Infrared"},"content":{"rendered":"
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5 min read<\/p>\n

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Composite<\/a><\/figure>
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This picture of Mars is a composite of several images captured by Europa Clipper\u2019s thermal imager on March 1. Bright regions are relatively warm, with temperatures of about 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius). Darker areas are colder. The darkest region at the top is the northern polar cap and is about minus 190 F (minus 125 C).<\/div>\n
NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Headed for Jupiter\u2019s moon Europa, the spacecraft did some sightseeing, using a flyby of Mars to calibrate its infrared imaging instrument.<\/em><\/p>\n

On its recent swing by Mars, NASA\u2019s Europa Clipper took the opportunity to capture infrared images of the Red Planet. The data will help mission scientists calibrate the spacecraft\u2019s thermal imaging instrument so they can be sure it\u2019s operating correctly when Europa Clipper arrives at the Jupiter system in 2030.<\/p>\n

The mission\u2019s sights are set on Jupiter\u2019s moon Europa and the global ocean hidden under its icy surface. A year after slipping into orbit around Jupiter, Europa Clipper<\/a> will begin a series of 49 close flybys of the moon to investigate whether it holds conditions suitable for life.<\/p>\n

A key element of that investigation will be thermal imaging \u2014 global scans of Europa that map temperatures to shed light on how active the surface is. Infrared imaging will reveal how much heat is being emitted from the moon; warmer areas of the ice give off more energy and indicate recent activity.<\/p>\n

The imaging also will tell scientists where the ocean is closest to the surface. Europa is crisscrossed by dramatic ridges and fractures, which scientists believe are caused by ocean convection pulling apart the icy crust and water rising up to fill the gaps.<\/p>\n

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\"Colorized<\/a><\/figure>
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This picture of Mars is a colorized composite of several images captured by Europa Clipper\u2019s thermal imager. Warm colors represent relatively warm temperatures; red areas are about 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius), and purple regions are about minus 190 F (minus 125 C).<\/div>\n
NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe want to measure the temperature of those features,\u201d said Arizona State University\u2019s Phil Christensen, principal investigator of Europa Clipper\u2019s infrared<\/a> camera, called the Europa Thermal Imaging System (E-THEMIS<\/a>). \u201cIf Europa is a really active place, those fractures will be warmer than the surrounding ice where the ocean comes close to the surface. Or if water erupted onto the surface hundreds to thousands of years ago, then those surfaces could still be relatively warm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why Mars<\/strong><\/p>\n

On March 1, Europa Clipper flew just 550 miles (884 kilometers) above the surface of Mars in order to use the planet\u2019s gravitational pull to reshape the spacecraft\u2019s trajectory<\/a>. Ultimately, the assist will get the mission to Jupiter faster than if it made a beeline for the gas giant, but the flyby also offered a critical opportunity for Europa Clipper to test E-THEMIS.<\/p>\n

For about 18 minutes on March 1, the instrument captured one image per second, yielding more than a thousand grayscale pictures that were transmitted to Earth starting on May 5. After compiling these images into a global snapshot of Mars, scientists applied color, using hues with familiar associations: Warm areas are depicted in red, while colder areas are shown as blue.<\/p>\n

By comparing E-THEMIS images with those made from established Mars data, scientists can judge how well the instrument is working.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted no surprises in these new images,\u201d Christensen said. \u201cThe goal was to capture imagery of a planetary body we know extraordinarily well and make sure the dataset looks exactly the way it should, based on 20 years of instruments documenting Mars.\u201d<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Mars Odyssey<\/a> orbiter, launched in 2001, carries a sister instrument named THEMIS that has been capturing its own thermal images of the Red Planet for decades. To be extra thorough, the Odyssey team collected thermal images of Mars before, during, and after Europa Clipper\u2019s flyby so that Europa scientists can compare the visuals as an additional gauge of how well E-THEMIS is calibrated.<\/p>\n

Europa Clipper also took advantage of the close proximity to Mars to test all the components of its radar instrument<\/a> in unison for the first time. The radar antennas and the wavelengths they produce are so long that it wasn\u2019t possible for engineers to can do that in a clean room before launch. The radar data will be returned and analyzed in the coming weeks and months, but preliminary assessments of the real-time telemetry indicate that the test went well.<\/p>\n

To leverage the flyby even further, the science team took the opportunity to ensure that the spacecraft\u2019s telecommunication equipment will be able to conduct gravity experiments<\/a> at Europa. By transmitting signals to Earth while passing through Mars\u2019 gravity field, they were able to confirm that a similar operation is expected to work at Europa.<\/p>\n

Europa Clipper launched<\/a> from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 14, 2024, via a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, embarking on a 1.8 billion-mile (2.9 billion-kilometer) journey to Jupiter, which is five times farther from the Sun than Earth is. Now that the probe has harnessed the gravity of Mars, its next gravity assist will be from Earth in 2026.<\/p>\n

More About Europa Clipper<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Europa Clipper\u2019s three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon\u2019s icy shell and its interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission\u2019s detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.<\/p>\n

Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, for NASA\u2019s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. APL designed the main spacecraft body in collaboration with JPL and NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA Marshall executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission. NASA\u2019s Launch Services Program, based at NASA Kennedy, managed the launch service for the Europa Clipper spacecraft.<\/p>\n

Find more information about Europa Clipper here:
https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/europa-clipper\/<\/a><\/p>\n

News Media Contacts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gretchen McCartney
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-287-4115
gretchen.p.mccartney@jpl.nasa.gov <\/a><\/p>\n

Karen Fox \/ Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov<\/a> \/ molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov<\/a>  <\/p>\n

2025-065<\/p>\n

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