Photo: Charles Boyer / TOT
By Charles Boyer, October 13, 2024.
NASA and SpaceX plan to send the Europa Clipper probe on its way to the Jovian system aboard Falcon Heavy on Monday, October 14, 2024. Liftoff is scheduled for 12:06 PM EDT from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center.
At A Glance
- Mission: Europa Clipper
- Date: NET October 14, 2024
- Launch Window: 12:06 PM EDT
- Weather: 95% Go on the primary launch day
- Organization: NASA / SpaceX
- Rocket: Falcon Heavy
- Trajectory: Eastward
- Launch Site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center
- Booster Landing: none, all cores expended
- Payload: the Europa Clipper probe
- Destination: Jupiter
Should weather or technical reasons prevent the launch from proceeding Monday, additional opportunities exist to launch the probe every day until November 6. Each day, there is one instantaneous window for launch, meaning no long holds to wait for better conditions.
Due to performance requirements, the three Falcon cores will be expended, meaning that there will be no landings at Landing Zone 1 in Cape Canaveral or on drone ships stationed downrange.
Payload
Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission. It will study Europa, one of the Galilean moons, through a series of flybys while in orbit around Jupiter. Measuring some 100 feet from edge to edge, NASA states that the probe is roughly the size of a basketball court.
Credit: JPL / NASA
Arrival at Jupiter orbit is planned for April 2030, and according to NASA, “In 2031 [Europa Clipper] will start making 49 science-focused flybys of Europa while looping around the gas giant. The orbit is designed to maximize the science Europa Clipper can conduct and minimize exposure to Jupiter’s notoriously intense radiation.”
Europa Clipper will be surveying for conditions suitable to support life during those flybys after scientists predicted that a salty ocean lies beneath Europa’s icy surface. Those oceans have more water than Earth’s oceans combined.
Photo: NASA
Weather
The 45th Weather Squadron of Space Launch Delta 45 has listed a 5% Probability of Violation for tomorrow’s launch, which means that the weather is expected to be 95% GO at launch time.
Trajectory
Eastwards, relatively speaking. Europa is destined for a path to Jupiter roughly along the orbital plane of other planets, so it will take a path that lines up with the equator.
Online Viewing
SpaceCoastLaunchCalendar.com will have a livestream of the launch if you’re not able to watch the launch in person: Livestream
NASA will have a livestream of the launch. NASA+ Europa Clipper
SpaceX will also have a livestream of the launch on their website: Europa Clipper. Coverage will start about about twenty minutes prior to liftoff.
Spaceflight Now will have coverage of the launch starting about one hour before liftoff on Youtube: link
For official updates regarding launch times, NASA’s Europa Clipper site is the best source of information. Starlink launch times change from time to time, and the company generally updates their website within minutes of the decision to change the launch time. This is very handy if none of the streaming options on YouTube have started their broadcasts.
Remember that there is a delay between a launch stream and the actual countdown clock. That is simply because of physics: it takes time for the signal to travel from the launch site, through the Internet, and back down to your phone, resulting in a five to fifteen-second delay.
Next Space Flight an app for iOS and Android phones, has a real-time countdown clock that is accurate to a second, give or take. The app is free. Search the App Store or Google Play. They are also on the web: nextspaceflight.com.
Launch Viewing: In Person
This is a mid-day launch from LC-39A, and that means the best places to view the launch are in northern Titusville or on the Kennedy Space Center proper.
Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center is offering a “Feel The Heat” package from the Banana Creek Viewing Site, which is approximately 3.75 miles from the launch pad. Tickets are $250 per person. Should anyone choose to use this option, an early arrival at the Visitors Center is strongly advised.
Playalinda Beach is closed due to damage from Hurricane Milton. Via the National Park Service: “Canaveral National Seashore is including Apollo & Playalinda beaches within the boundary while we assess damage from Hurricane Milton for the safety of our visitors and staff.”
Northern Titusville Parks: Space View Park, Rotary Riverfront Park and other areas on US-1 North are excellent viewing spots.
Cocoa Beach, Cocoa Beach Pier, Jetty Park Pier will have indirect views, meaning that liftoff will not be visible, but after the rocket clears the pad and any ground obstructions, you will be able to see Falcon Heavy ascending clearly assuming there are no clouds between you and the rocket.