Meet Europa Clipper’s Solar Array ‘Wings’

NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft is getting ready for launch, and its massive solar arrays were recently installed. These “wings” are so large because Jupiter receives only 3% to 4% of the sunlight Earth gets, and the arrays need to be able to collect enough sunlight to power the spacecraft through its mission. With the arrays deployed, the spacecraft spans more than 100 feet (30.5 meters), which is nearly the distance from the Statue of Liberty’s toes to her head. The arrays will help the spacecraft make its 1.8 billion-mile (2.6 billion-kilometer) journey to Jupiter and power science instruments, electronics, heaters, and other subsystems during the years orbiting Jupiter and flying by the moon Europa. They also support six antennas that stick out perpendicularly from the panels. These antennas are for the REASON (Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface) instrument, which will probe for water within and beneath Europa’s ice. Both wings were installed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in collaboration with the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and Airbus Netherlands. The solar arrays are so large only one can be installed and tested at a time. Both will be folded and stowed for launch, then will fully deploy in space. Scientists believe the moon Europa has an ocean under its icy crust that may have conditions suitable for supporting life. Europa Clipper is expected to launch in October 2024 from Kennedy Space Center and arrive in the Jovian system in 2030. For more information on the mission go to: https://europa.nasa.gov/. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/KSC/APL/Airbus

What is said in the film

It's going to take six years to get out. Just to think about the science is just bonkers. The solar array is the powerhouse for the spacecraft on its journey from Earth to Europa. We’ve just completed our first flight-like deployment. And this is how it will deploy in space.

These solar arrays are so big we can only test one wing at a time. These solar arrays are really unique in not only do they need to survive extremely cold temperatures — minus 400 degrees Fahrenheit — it’s also meant to survive the extremely harsh Jupiter radiation environment. We built the solar arrays on Earth, we’ve tested them, but now they are actually going to Jupiter to provide power to all the instruments in the spacecraft to send back valuable science. It's an engineering feat that we're able to develop this. It is extremely exciting for me to be part of that.

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