Oct. 7 () –
The NASA and SpaceX have suspended the launch of the agency’s Europa Clipper mission, which was scheduled for this Thursday, October 10, due to the arrival of Hurricane ‘Milton.
The hurricane is expected ‘Milton‘ move from the Gulf of Mexico this week eastward to the Space Coast. The hurricane will cause strong winds and rain in the Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island regions on the east coast of Florida.
Launch teams have secured NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft in the SpaceX hangar at Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of severe weather.
“The safety of launch team personnel is our top priority and every precaution will be taken to protect the Europa Clipper spacecraft.“said senior launch director for NASA’s Launch Services Program, Tim Dunn.
Workers transported NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft from the Hazardous Cargo Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket in the hangar on Friday as part of final launch preparations before his trip to Jupiter’s icy moon.
While the Europa Clipper launch period begins on October 10, the window offers launch opportunities until Wednesday, November 6.
Once the storm passes, recovery teams will assess the security of the spaceport before personnel return to work. Launch teams will then assess launch processing facilities to determine if they have sustained damage from the storm.
“Once we have the go-ahead, followed by the evaluation of the facilities and recovery actions, We will determine the next launch opportunity for this flagship NASA mission“Dunn said.
Workers on Friday transported NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft to SpaceX’s hangar at Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in preparation for launch.
Earlier in the week, technicians completed encapsulation of the spacecraft inside a payload fairing at the Hazardous Payload Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Center. The fairings will protect the spacecraft from aerodynamic pressure and heat during launch before separating and falling back to Earth.
The largest space probe NASA has ever built for a planetary mission, Europa Clipper, a solar-powered robot, will conduct the first detailed investigations of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. The probe will orbit Jupiter and make nearly 50 flybys of Europa to determine if there are places beneath Europa’s surface that could support life.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, located in Southern California and managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is leading the development of the Europa Clipper mission in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel (Maryland), for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
The main body of the spacecraft was designed by APL in collaboration with NASA’s JPL and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The Planetary Mission Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is responsible for program management of the Europa Clipper mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program, headquartered at Kennedy, manages the launch service for the Europa Clipper spacecraft.
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