Europa Clipper Prepares for Test in Space Simulator

NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft is seen in the 85-foot-tall, 25-foot-wide (26-meter-by-8-meter) vacuum chamber, known as the Space Simulator, at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California in February 2024. Shortly after this photo was taken, the spacecraft underwent 16 days of thermal vacuum chamber (TVAC) testing so that engineers can be sure the hardware will survive the extreme temperatures and airless environment of space. TVAC is part of a regimen called environmental testing that takes place before spacecraft are approved for flight. Europa Clipper launched Oct. 14, 2024, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will arrive at Jupiter in 2030 and conduct about 50 flybys of Europa.