Europa Clipper is a
space probe developed by
NASA and scheduled for launch in October 2024. The largest spacecraft NASA has built for a planetary mission,
Europa Clipper is designed to study Jupiter's moon
Europa through a series of
flybys while in orbit around Jupiter, with the goals of exploring Europa, investigating its habitability, and aiding in the selection of a landing site for the future
Europa Lander. It is expected to reach its destination in 2030. This photograph shows a commemorative plate, 7 by 11 inches (18 by 28 centimeters) in size and made of
tantalum, that is attached to the outside of the space probe to seal an entrance to a vault designed to protect the electronics from
Jupiter's radiation. The outer face of the plate, pictured here, is etched with
waveforms of audio recordings of the word
water translated into 103 languages, radiating outwards from the
American Sign Language symbol for the same word. The inner face of the plate features a work by the American poet
Ada Limón.
Photograph credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech; photographed by Ryan Lannom
