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NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, launched on October 14, 2024, is now moving at 35 kilometres per second and has travelled more than 13 million miles from Earth as reported by NASA. Designed for an ambitious mission to study Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, the spacecraft is expected to arrive in the Jupiter system in 2030. Following its arrival, the mission will embark on a series of 49 close flybys of Europa to gather data on the moon’s subsurface ocean and assess its potential to support life.

Spacecraft’s Instruments Undergo Deployment and Testing

After its deployment from a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, the Europa Clipper’s vast solar arrays—each stretching the length of a basketball court—were successfully extended, NASA revealed. The magnetometer boom, a 28-foot (8.5-metre) component designed to measure Europa’s magnetic field, was also deployed. This will help scientists examine the depth and salinity of the ocean thought to lie beneath Europa’s icy shell.

Subsequent stages included the deployment of several radar antennas, which will aid in examining Europa’s ice layer. According to Jordan Evans, the Europa Clipper project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California, the successful deployment of these instruments provides valuable data on the spacecraft’s operational behaviour.

Upcoming Mars Flyby for Gravity Assist

As per the report, a significant phase of the mission is planned for March 1, 2025, when Europa Clipper will use Mars for a gravity assist manoeuvre. The spacecraft will pass by Mars, gaining speed and adjusting its trajectory towards Jupiter. During this flyby, a test operation involving the thermal imager will capture multicoloured images of Mars, while the radar instrument will gather data, ensuring functionality as intended.

Next Steps and Earth Flyby

Another gravity assist with Earth is scheduled for December 2026, further boosting Europa Clipper’s speed as it heads toward Jupiter. The magnetometer will also be recalibrated during this Earth flyby by measuring Earth’s magnetic field.

Europa Clipper’s Science Goals

Europa Clipper is equipped with a suite of instruments for studying Europa’s icy surface and hidden ocean. The primary mission objectives are to investigate the ice thickness, determine its composition, and characterise the moon’s geology, offering insights into Europa’s potential as a habitable world.

Managed by JPL and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Europa Clipper is among NASA’s most ambitious planetary missions, overseen by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and the Planetary Missions Program Office at Marshall Space Flight Center.

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NASA’s X-59 Moves Closer to First Flight with Advanced Taxi Tests and Augmented Vision

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NASA’s X-59 Moves Closer to First Flight with Advanced Taxi Tests and Augmented Vision

X-59 of NASA has been designed from the ground to fly at a faster speed of sound without making thunderous sonic booms, which are usually associated with supersonic flight. This 99-foot aircraft, which features a logically elongated design, jettisons the front windscreen and is now heading towards the runway. Pilots can see what is at the front through an augmented reality (AR) enabled closed-circuit camera system, which is termed by NASA as the External Vision System (XVS). NASA took control of an experimental aircraft and performed taxi tests on it during this month.

X-59’s Futuristic Design: Eliminating Sonic Booms with External Vision System

According to As per NASA, the test pilot Nils Larson, during the test, drove the X-59 at the runway by keeping a low speed. This is done to ensure the working of the steering and braking systems of the jet. Lockheed Martina and NASA would perform the taxi tests at high speed, in which the X-59 will move faster to make it to the speed at which it will go for takeoff.

Taxi tests are held at the U.S. Air Force’s Plant 42 facility in Palmdale, California. The contractors and the Air Force utilise the plant for manufacturing and testing the aircraft. Lockheed Martin has developed this aircraft, whose Skunk Works is found in Plant 42.

Taxi Tests at Plant 42: NASA and Lockheed Martin Prepare X-59 for First Flight

Some advanced aircraft of the U.S. military were developed to a certain extent at Plant 42, together with the B-2 Spirit, the F-22 Raptor, and the uncrewed RQ-170 Sentinel spy drone.

SOFIA airborne observatory aircraft, which is a flying telescope called Plant 42, home recently retired. The space shuttle of the agency is the world’s first reusable spacecraft; these were assembled and tested at the facility.

Such taxi tests have started over the last months. NASA worked in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency for testing a scale model of the X-59 in the supersonic wind tunnel to measure the noise created under the aircraft.

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Unusual Plasma Waves Above Jupiter’s North Pole Can Possibly Be Explained

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Unusual Plasma Waves Above Jupiter’s North Pole Can Possibly Be Explained

In recent observations, NASA’s Juno spacecraft has significantly detected the presence of a variety of plasma waves. The emergence of these waves on Jupiter’s powerful magnetic field is projected to be surprising, as their existence was never marked in the planetary magnetospheres. However, scientists might have come out with an explanation. Furthermore, the current studies have been questioned by scientists surfacing the activity at the North Pole. The article below will exemplify the findings and shed light on the plasmas. 

Uncovering Mystery at Jupiter’s North Pole 

According to a paper published in the Physical Review Letters, the scientists have uncovered the explanation behind the presence of these strange waves. They mainly suspect that the formation of these waves lies behind their evolution as a plasma, which later transforms into something different. 

Inside Jupiter’s Plasmas and Their Variants 

Plasmas are best referred to as the waves that pass through the amalgamation of the charged particles in the planet’s magnetosphere.These plasma waves come across in two forms: One, Langmuir waves, which are high-pitched lights crafted with electrons, while the other, Alfven waves, are slower, formed by ions (heavy particles). 

About Juno’s Findings

As unveiled by the Juno, the findings turned out to be questionable after the scientists noted that in Jupiter’s far northern region, the plasma waves were relatively slower. The magnetic field is about 40 times stronger than the Earth’s, but scientists were shocked to witness the results as the waves were slower. To analyse this further, a team from the University of Minnesota, led by Robert Lysak, identified the possibility of Alfven waves transforming into Langmuir waves. Post studying the data extracted from the Juno, the researchers then began to compare the relationship between the plasma wave frequency and number. 

According to Lysak’s research team, near Jupiter’s north pole, there might be a potential pathway of Alfven waves, which are massive in numbers, transforming into Langmuir waves. Scientists are also predicting that the reason behind evolution might be strong electrons that are shooting upwards at a very high energy. This discovery was made in the year 2016. Considering the current findings, the researchers indicate that Jupiter’s magnetosphere may comprise a new type of plasma wave mode that occurs during high magnetic field strength. 

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Russia Expands Space Weather Network, Launches Iran’s Nahid-2 in Joint Mission

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Russia Expands Space Weather Network, Launches Iran’s Nahid-2 in Joint Mission

Russia sent two new Ionosfera-M satellites into orbit on a Soyuz-2 on July 25, 2025. Rocket 1b from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Siberia. The mission also placed Iran’s Nahid-2 communications satellite in orbit. These satellites will complement a four-satellite constellation aimed at keeping track of Earth’s upper atmosphere and space weather conditions, particularly the solar wind that can knock satellites and communications systems offline. The flight indicates Russia’s scientific ambitions and collaboration with Iran’s space program, showing Russia’s function in launching Tehran’s orbital assets. Both countries gain from the collaborative mission.

Russian Space Weather Satellites

According to official sources, Russia’s new Ionosfera-M probes, 3 and 4, follow two identical satellites launched in November 2024. Together the four craft form a mini-constellation orbiting about 820 kilometers above Earth. The network is explicitly designed to study space weather in the ionosphere, the charged upper atmosphere.

It will track solar wind and related phenomena that can disturb communications and navigation systems. The latest pair is being inserted into an orbital plane perpendicular to the first two, greatly expanding three-dimensional coverage of near-Earth space. They also carry a new Ozonometr-TM instrument to measure upper-atmosphere ozone for the first time in this mission.

Iranian Payload and International Implications

An Iranian communications satellite, Nahid-2, was also aboard the Soyuz mission.Nahid-2 is intended to bolster Iran’s civilian communications in space, an important capability given Iran’s limited homegrown launch capabilities. Russia’s role in the delivery of the payload reflects cooperation between the countries in space technology.

With the help of Russia, Iran can continue its satellite building efforts, even though these are restricted by the international community from also involving rocket export limitations. That Moscow has such a product even while Iran is under sanctions underscores the depth of their two-nation space partnership. This mission represents Russia’s support for ally’s space aspirations and the broader geopolitical implications of such collaborative efforts.

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