NASA's Europa Clipper is now less than a month away from its October 10 launch, and the US space agency has shown off the spacecraft's giant solar panels. Concerns remain, however, about how well the probe's electronics will fare in the harsh Jovian environment.
Spacecraft Makers: Simulating Space to test the Europa Clipper
Each of Europa Clipper's arrays measures 14.2 meters (46.5 ft) long and 4.1 meters (13.5 ft) high.
Truly, the probe is a beast of a spacecraft. According to NASA, it is the largest the agency has ever created for a planetary mission, spanning more than 30.5 meters (100 ft) with its arrays deployed and with a dry mass of 3,241 kg (7,145 lb).
These arrays must be huge. The spacecraft is set to make several flybys of Jupiter's moon Europa, where it will receive only three to four percent of the sunlight that reaches Earth. There is a reason, after all, that many probes sent to distant parts of the solar system use Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs).
