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7h ago

Europa Clipper Completes Successful Mars Radar Test En Route to Jupiter’s Moon

Data from a 40-minute Mars flyby confirm REASON’s readiness with a 60-gigabyte dataset downloaded this summer ahead of a 2026 Earth gravity assist

Image
Image
This artist’s concept of Europa Clipper shows the spacecraft silhouetted against Europa’s surface, with its long radar antennas - seen at the lower edge of the solar panels - fully deployed. The antennas are key components of the spacecraft’s radar instrument, called REASON. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech.

Overview

  • REASON radar deployed two pairs of 58-foot antennas to send and receive signals during a pass from 3,100 to 550 miles above Mars’ equator
  • Engineers collected 60 gigabytes of radar data, completing the full download by mid-May and beginning detailed analysis at JPL and partner institutions
  • Prelaunch ground tests were limited by sterility requirements and lacked a 250-foot chamber for echo validation, making the Mars flyby essential for full-scale calibration
  • Mission teams report that REASON performed exactly as intended, confirming its capability to image beneath Europa’s icy shell and seek subsurface water pockets
  • Europa Clipper will execute an Earth gravity assist in 2026 before arriving at Jupiter’s moon Europa in 2030 to start its detailed exploration