4 min read<\/p>\n
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Members](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/1-pia26291-clipper-floor-d2024-0411-rl8572.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/figure>\nMembers of the media visited a clean room at JPL April 11 to get a close-up look at NASA\u2019s Europa Clipper spacecraft and interview members of the mission team. The spacecraft is expected to launch in October 2024 on a six-year journey to the Jupiter system, where it will study the ice-encased moon Europa.<\/div>\nNASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nExcitement is mounting as the largest spacecraft NASA has ever built for a planetary mission gets readied for an October launch.<\/em><\/p>\nEngineers at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California are running final tests and preparing the agency\u2019s Europa Clipper<\/a> spacecraft for the next leg of its journey: launching from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Europa Clipper, which will orbit Jupiter and focus on the planet\u2019s ice-encased moon Europa, is expected to leave JPL later this spring. Its launch period opens on Oct. 10.<\/p>\nMembers of the media put on \u201cbunny suits\u201d \u2014 outfits to protect the massive spacecraft from contamination \u2014 to see Europa Clipper up close in JPL\u2019s historic Spacecraft Assembly Facility<\/a> on Thursday, April 11. Project Manager Jordan Evans, Launch-to-Mars Mission Manager Tracy Drain, Project Staff Scientist Samuel Howell, and Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations Cable Harness Engineer Luis Aguila were on the clean room floor, while Deputy Project Manager Tim Larson, and Mission Designer Ricardo Restrepo were in the gallery above to explain the mission and its goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2-pia26292-clipper-gallery-d2024-0411-rl0014718.jpg\")
<\/figure>\nThe viewing gallery above High Bay 1 in JPL\u2019s historic Spacecraft Assembly Facility provided members of the media with a vantage point to observe the clean room where Europa Clipper was put together.<\/div>\nNASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n![\"Europa](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/3-pia25319-clipper-vk-d2024-0411-rl0014727.jpg\")
<\/figure>\nEuropa Clipper Science Communications Lead Cynthia Phillips explains the science of the mission to members of the media in von K\u00e1rm\u00e1n Auditorium at the agency\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on April 11. A cutaway model showing the moon\u2019s layers can be seen behind Phillips.<\/div>\nNASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t
<\/figure>Excitement is mounting as the largest spacecraft NASA has ever built for a planetary mission gets readied for an October launch.<\/em><\/p>\n Engineers at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California are running final tests and preparing the agency\u2019s Europa Clipper<\/a> spacecraft for the next leg of its journey: launching from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Europa Clipper, which will orbit Jupiter and focus on the planet\u2019s ice-encased moon Europa, is expected to leave JPL later this spring. Its launch period opens on Oct. 10.<\/p>\n Members of the media put on \u201cbunny suits\u201d \u2014 outfits to protect the massive spacecraft from contamination \u2014 to see Europa Clipper up close in JPL\u2019s historic Spacecraft Assembly Facility<\/a> on Thursday, April 11. Project Manager Jordan Evans, Launch-to-Mars Mission Manager Tracy Drain, Project Staff Scientist Samuel Howell, and Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations Cable Harness Engineer Luis Aguila were on the clean room floor, while Deputy Project Manager Tim Larson, and Mission Designer Ricardo Restrepo were in the gallery above to explain the mission and its goals.<\/p>\n<\/figure><\/figure>