API VERSION: 1.2 API SOURCE: NASA/JPL Horizons API ******************************************************************************* Revised: Mar 13, 2025 Europa Clipper (Spacecraft) / (Sun, Jupiter) -159 https://science.nasa.gov/mission/europa-clipper/ https://europa.nasa.gov/ BACKGROUND: NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft will carry a suite of science instruments to assess habitability of Jupiter's ice-covered moon Europa (502) while confirming the existence and nature of an expected sub-surface ocean. Launched : 2024-Oct-14 16:06 UTC (SpaceX Falcon Heavy, KSC LC-39A) Mars gravity assist : 2025-Mar-01 Earth gravity assist: 2026-Dec-03 Arrival : 2030-Apr-11 (5.50 year time-of-flight) Mission length : 4.12 years (prime mission, JOI to E49) End-of-mission : 2034-Sep (directed to Ganymede impact ~30d after E49) The spacecraft is expected to orbit Jupiter 75 times and conduct 49 flybys of Europa at altitudes as low as 25 km. This will reduce exposure to the high levels of radiation Europa moves within. Gravity-assists from Europa (49), Ganymede (7), and Callisto (9) will be used to target different Europa close approach points on each flyby. SPACECRAFT: Considering solar arrays and radar antennas, Europa Clipper will be the largest spacecraft NASA has developed to-date for an interplanetary mission. When arrays are deployed, the spacecraft will span 30.5 meters. Main body (bus): 3 x 4.7 x 4 meters Dry mass (no propellant): 3241 kg Propellant: 2750 kg Solar power arrays: 2 x 14.2 x 4.1 meters SCIENCE INSTRUMENTS Europa Imaging System (EIS) Europa Thermal Emission Imaging System (E-THEMIS) Europa Ultraviolet Spectrograph (Europa-UVS) Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE) Europa Clipper Magnetometer (ECM) Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding (PIMS) Gravity/Radio Science Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON) MAss Spectrometer for Planetary EXploration/Europa (MASPEX) SUrface Dust Analyzer (SUDA) SPACECRAFT TRAJECTORY (from JPL navigation): Segments marked by '*' below are pre-launch predictions. Based on tracking data through 2025-Mar-10. Data thereafter is predicted: Trajectory files (JPL mission design/nav) Start End ---------------------------------------------------- ----------- ----------- *21F31_MEGA_L241014_A300411_LP05_V7 (16:13 - 17:08) 2024-Oct-14 2024-Oct-14 trj_241014-241103-dco2410142047-postLaunch-OD001-v1 2024-Oct-14 2024-Oct-18 trj_241018-250130-dco2411082133-cru002-fin-OD018-v14 2024-Oct-18 2024-Nov-23 trj_241123-250315-dco2412031638-cru003-fin-OD020-v1 2024-Nov-23 2024-Dec-04 trj_241204-250311-dco2501221611-MGATRGa-OD034-v1 2024-Dec-04 2025-Jan-04 trj_250104-250614-dco2502250958-cru005-fin-OD042-v1 2025-Jan-04 2025-Feb-15 trj_250215-250614-dco2503101633-MGACU1-FIN-OD046-v1 2025-Feb-15 2025-Jun-14 *21F31_MEGA_L241014_A300411_LP05_V7 2025-Jun-14 2031-Feb-07 ******************************************************************************* ******************************************************************************* Ephemeris / API_USER Fri Apr 18 19:46:30 2025 Pasadena, USA / Horizons ******************************************************************************* Target body name: Europa Clipper (spacecraft) (-159) {source: Europa_Clipper_merged} Center body name: Earth (399) {source: Europa_Clipper_merged} Center-site name: VdS Remote Observatory, Hakos ******************************************************************************* Start time : A.D. 2024-Oct-31 00:00:00.0000 UT Stop time : A.D. 2024-Nov-01 00:00:00.0000 UT Step-size : 10 minutes ******************************************************************************* Target pole/equ : undefined Target radii : undefined Center geodetic : 16.3613, -23.2365766, 1.8515 {E-lon(deg),Lat(deg),Alt(km)} Center cylindric: 16.3613,5865.52307,-2501.54567 {E-lon(deg),Dxy(km),Dz(km)} Center pole/equ : ITRF93 {East-longitude positive} Center radii : 6378.137, 6378.137, 6356.752 km {Equator_a, b, pole_c} Target primary : Earth Vis. interferer : MOON (R_eq= 1737.400) km {source: Europa_Clipper_merge Rel. light bend : Sun {source: Europa_Clipper_merge Rel. lght bnd GM: 1.3271E+11 km^3/s^2 Atmos refraction: NO (AIRLESS) RA format : HMS Time format : CAL Calendar mode : Mixed Julian/Gregorian RTS-only print : NO EOP file : eop.250418.p250715 EOP coverage : DATA-BASED 1962-JAN-20 TO 2025-APR-18. PREDICTS-> 2025-JUL-14 Units conversion: 1 au= 149597870.700 km, c= 299792.458 km/s, 1 day= 86400.0 s Table cut-offs 1: Elevation ( 0.0deg=YES),Airmass (>38.000=NO), Daylight (YES) Table cut-offs 2: Solar elongation ( 12.0,180.0=YES),Local Hour Angle( 0.0=NO ) Table cut-offs 3: RA/DEC angular rate ( 0.0=NO ) *************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Date__(UT)__HR:MN R.A._____(ICRF)_____DEC Azi____(a-app)___Elev APmag S-brt r rdot delta deldot S-O-T /r S-T-O T-O-M/MN_Illu% RA_3sigma DEC_3sigma Sky_motion Sky_mot_PA RelVel-ANG *************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** $$SOE 2024-Oct-31 00:00 08 35 58.93 +30 27 57.8 55.724873 1.675626 n.a. n.a. 0.998809714161 2.1016576 0.05953885569107 5.7566828 94.0248 /L 82.5673 78.1/ 2.0498 n.a. n.a. 0.3483113 328.01350 87.506591 2024-Oct-31 00:10 08 35 58.78 +30 28 00.8 54.674543 3.567274 n.a. n.a. 0.998818146475 2.1032771 0.05956195096407 5.7614680 94.0324 /L 82.5584 78.2/ 2.0246 n.a. n.a. 0.3585155 324.30448 87.434775 2024-Oct-31 00:20 08 35 58.61 +30 28 03.6 53.578120 5.434010 n.a. n.a. 0.998826585284 2.1048965 0.05958506676792 5.7669202 94.0401 /L 82.5495 78.3/ 1.9998 n.a. n.a. 0.3694634 320.81023 87.358023 2024-Oct-31 00:30 08 35 58.42 +30 28 06.5 52.433563 7.274038 n.a. n.a. 0.998835030587 2.1065159 0.05960820575605 5.7730285 94.0478 /L 82.5405 78.4/ 1.9753 n.a. n.a. 0.3810099 317.52472 87.277401 2024-Oct-31 00:40 08 35 58.21 +30 28 09.2 51.238723 9.085430 n.a. n.a. 0.998843482385 2.1081352 0.05963137053641 5.7797811 94.0556 /L 82.5314 78.5/ 1.9512 n.a. n.a. 0.3930174 314.43854 87.193922 2024-Oct-31 00:50 08 35 57.98 +30 28 12.0 49.991350 10.866119 n.a. n.a. 0.998851940677 2.1097544 0.05965456366586 5.7871644 94.0635 /L 82.5223 78.6/ 1.9275 n.a. n.a. 0.4053563 311.54014 87.108535 2024-Oct-31 01:00 08 35 57.74 +30 28 14.6 48.689113 12.613887 n.a. n.a. 0.998860405463 2.1113736 0.05967778764509 5.7951639 94.0714 /L 82.5131 78.7/ 1.9041 n.a. n.a. 0.4179066 308.81674 87.022121 2024-Oct-31 01:10 08 35 57.48 +30 28 17.2 47.329616 14.326362 n.a. n.a. 0.998868876743 2.1129927 0.05970104491456 5.8037641 94.0794 /L 82.5039 78.8/ 1.8811 n.a. n.a. 0.4305574 306.25511 86.935491 2024-Oct-31 01:20 08 35 57.20 +30 28 19.7 45.910423 16.001001 n.a. n.a. 0.998877354516 2.1146117 0.05972433784939 5.8129480 94.0874 /L 82.4946 78.9/ 1.8585 n.a. n.a. 0.4432069 303.84206 86.849385 2024-Oct-31 01:30 08 35 56.91 +30 28 22.1 44.429088 17.635092 n.a. n.a. 0.998885838781 2.1162306 0.05974766875501 5.8226977 94.0954 /L 82.4853 79.0/ 1.8362 n.a. n.a. 0.4557619 301.56479 86.764475 2024-Oct-31 01:40 08 35 56.60 +30 28 24.4 42.883193 19.225743 n.a. n.a. 0.998894329540 2.1178495 0.05977103986239 5.8329940 94.1035 /L 82.4759 79.1/ 1.8144 n.a. n.a. 0.4681374 299.41110 86.681372 2024-Oct-31 01:50 08 35 56.28 +30 28 26.7 41.270391 20.769882 n.a. n.a. 0.998902826790 2.1194683 0.05979445332389 5.8438170 94.1117 /L 82.4665 79.2/ 1.7929 n.a. n.a. 0.4802559 297.36955 86.600625 2024-Oct-31 02:00 08 35 55.94 +30 28 28.8 39.588463 22.264250 n.a. n.a. 0.998911330533 2.1210870 0.05981791120928 5.8551455 94.1199 /L 82.4570 79.3/ 1.7719 n.a. n.a. 0.4920466 295.42949 86.522732 2024-Oct-31 02:10 08 35 55.59 +30 28 30.9 37.835379 23.705410 n.a. n.a. 0.998919840767 2.1227057 0.05984141550183 5.8669573 94.1281 /L 82.4475 79.4/ 1.7512 n.a. n.a. 0.5034451 293.58107 86.448137 2024-Oct-31 02:20 08 35 55.23 +30 28 32.8 36.009370 25.089748 n.a. n.a. 0.998928357493 2.1243243 0.05986496809394 5.8792294 94.1364 /L 82.4380 79.5/ 1.7310 n.a. n.a. 0.5143929 291.81522 86.377236 2024-Oct-31 02:30 08 35 54.85 +30 28 34.7 34.109014 26.413488 n.a. n.a. 0.998936880710 2.1259428 0.05988857078401 5.8919380 94.1447 /L 82.4284 79.6/ 1.7111 n.a. n.a. 0.5248366 290.12361 86.310385 2024-Oct-31 02:40 08 35 54.46 +30 28 36.4 32.133327 27.672706 n.a. n.a. 0.998945410417 2.1275612 0.05991222527292 5.9050582 94.1530 /L 82.4188 79.7/ 1.6917 n.a. n.a. 0.5347281 288.49860 86.247897 2024-Oct-31 02:50 A 08 35 54.07 +30 28 38.1 30.081861 28.863357 n.a. n.a. 0.998953946615 2.1291796 0.05993593316063 5.9185646 94.1614 /L 82.4091 79.8/ 1.6727 n.a. n.a. 0.5440234 286.93317 86.190047 2024-Oct-31 03:00 A 08 35 53.66 +30 28 39.6 27.954810 29.981307 n.a. n.a. 0.998962489304 2.1307978 0.05995969594316 5.9324308 94.1697 /L 82.3995 79.9/ 1.6540 n.a. n.a. 0.5526830 285.42088 86.137077 2024-Oct-31 03:10 A 08 35 53.24 +30 28 41.0 25.753115 31.022370 n.a. n.a. 0.998971038482 2.1324161 0.05998351500999 5.9466300 94.1781 /L 82.3898 80.0/ 1.6358 n.a. n.a. 0.5606715 283.95579 86.089194 2024-Oct-31 03:20 Nm 08 35 52.82 +30 28 42.2 23.478566 31.982360 n.a. n.a. 0.998979594149 2.1340342 0.06000739164058 5.9611343 94.1865 /L 82.3800 80.1/ 1.6180 n.a. n.a. 0.5679571 282.53239 86.046577 2024-Oct-31 03:30 Nm 08 35 52.38 +30 28 43.4 21.133893 32.857147 n.a. n.a. 0.998988156306 2.1356523 0.06003132700261 5.9759157 94.1950 /L 82.3703 80.2/ 1.6006 n.a. n.a. 0.5745114 281.14561 86.009374 2024-Oct-31 03:40 Nm 08 35 51.94 +30 28 44.4 18.722843 33.642727 n.a. n.a. 0.998996724952 2.1372703 0.06005532214963 5.9909453 94.2034 /L 82.3606 80.3/ 1.5835 n.a. n.a. 0.5803099 279.79069 85.977707 2024-Oct-31 03:50 Cm 08 35 51.50 +30 28 45.4 16.250226 34.335287 n.a. n.a. 0.999005300087 2.1388882 0.06007937801890 6.0061941 94.2119 /L 82.3508 80.4/ 1.5669 n.a. n.a. 0.5853308 278.46319 85.951671 2024-Oct-31 04:00 Cm 08 35 51.05 +30 28 46.1 13.721935 34.931287 n.a. n.a. 0.999013881709 2.1405060 0.06010349542974 6.0216323 94.2203 /L 82.3410 80.4/ 1.5507 n.a. n.a. 0.5895558 277.15890 85.931339 >..... Daylight Cut-off Requested .....< >..... Elevation Cut-off Requested .....< 2024-Oct-31 23:50 08 35 56.77 +30 28 09.5 56.333621 0.521624 n.a. n.a. 1.000081338081 2.3324925 0.06303472188654 5.7229118 95.0065 /L 81.3947 89.7/ 0.2768 n.a. n.a. 0.3346161 328.40661 87.449093 2024-Nov-01 00:00 08 35 56.62 +30 28 12.3 55.310214 2.427438 n.a. n.a. 1.000090696178 2.3341012 0.06305768090565 5.7272848 95.0141 /L 81.3859 89.8/ 0.2674 n.a. n.a. 0.3444906 324.74754 87.374968 $$EOE *************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Column meaning: TIME Times PRIOR to 1962 are UT1, a mean-solar time closely related to the prior but now-deprecated GMT. Times AFTER 1962 are in UTC, the current civil or "wall-clock" time-scale. UTC is kept within 0.9 seconds of UT1 using integer leap-seconds for 1972 and later years. Conversion from the internal Barycentric Dynamical Time (TDB) of solar system dynamics to the non-uniform civil UT time-scale requested for output has not been determined for UTC times after the next July or January 1st. Therefore, the last known leap-second is used as a constant over future intervals. Time tags refer to the UT time-scale conversion from TDB on Earth regardless of observer location within the solar system, although clock rates may differ due to the local gravity field and no analog to "UT" may be defined for that location. Any 'b' symbol in the 1st-column denotes a B.C. date. First-column blank (" ") denotes an A.D. date. CALENDAR SYSTEM Mixed calendar mode was active such that calendar dates after AD 1582-Oct-15 (if any) are in the modern Gregorian system. Dates prior to 1582-Oct-5 (if any) are in the Julian calendar system, which is automatically extended for dates prior to its adoption on 45-Jan-1 BC. The Julian calendar is useful for matching historical dates. The Gregorian calendar more accurately corresponds to the Earth's orbital motion and seasons. A "Gregorian-only" calendar mode is available if such physical events are the primary interest. NOTE: "n.a." in output means quantity "not available" at the print-time. SOLAR PRESENCE (OBSERVING SITE) Time tag is followed by a blank, then a solar-presence condition code: '*' Daylight (refracted solar upper-limb on or above apparent horizon) 'C' Civil twilight/dawn 'N' Nautical twilight/dawn 'A' Astronomical twilight/dawn ' ' Night OR geocentric ephemeris LUNAR PRESENCE WITH TARGET RISE/TRANSIT/SET EVENT MARKER (OBSERVING SITE) The solar-presence code column is immediately followed by another marker: 'm' Refracted upper-limb of Moon on or above apparent horizon ' ' Refracted upper-limb of Moon below apparent horizon OR geocentric The lunar presence marker (an ongoing state) can be over-ridden by a target event marker if an event has occurred since the last output step: 'r' Rise (target body on or went above cut-off RTS elevation) 'e' Elevation max (target body maximum elevation angle has occurred) 't' Transit (target body at or passed through observer meridian) 's' Set (target body on or went below cut-off RTS elevation) RTS MARKERS (TVH) Rise and set are with respect to the reference ellipsoid true visual horizon defined by the elevation cut-off angle. Horizon dip and yellow-light refraction (Earth only) are considered. Accuracy is < or = to twice the requested search step-size. 'R.A._____(ICRF)_____DEC' = Astrometric right ascension and declination of the target center with respect to the observing site (coordinate origin) in the reference frame of the planetary ephemeris (ICRF). Compensated for down-leg light-time delay aberration. Units: RA in hours-minutes-seconds of time, HH MM SS.ff{ffff} DEC in degrees-minutes-seconds of arc, sDD MN SC.f{ffff} 'Azi____(a-app)___Elev' = Airless apparent azimuth and elevation of target center. Compensated for light-time, the gravitational deflection of light, stellar aberration, precession and nutation. Azimuth is measured clockwise from north: North(0) -> East(90) -> South(180) -> West(270) -> North (360) Elevation angle is with respect to a plane perpendicular to the reference surface local zenith direction. TOPOCENTRIC ONLY. Units: DEGREES 'APmag S-brt' = The targets' approximate apparent visual magnitude and surface brightness. For planets and natural satellites, output is restricted to solar phase angles covered by observational data. Outside the observed phase angle range, "n.a." may be output to avoid extrapolation beyond the limit of model validity. For Earth-based observers, the estimated dimming due to atmospheric absorption (extinction) is available as a separate, requestable quantity. Surface brightness is the average airless visual magnitude of a square-arcsecond of the illuminated portion of the apparent disk. It is computed only if the target radius is known. Units: MAGNITUDES & MAGNITUDES PER SQUARE ARCSECOND 'r rdot' = The Sun's apparent range ("r", light-time aberrated) and range-rate ("rdot") relative to the target center, as seen by the observer. A positive "rdot" means the target center was moving away from the Sun, negative means moving toward the Sun. Units: AU and KM/S 'delta deldot' = Apparent range ("delta", light-time aberrated) and range-rate ("delta-dot") of the target center relative to the observer. A positive "deldot" means the target center is moving away from the observer, negative indicates movement toward the observer. Units: AU and KM/S 'S-O-T /r' = Sun-Observer-Target apparent SOLAR ELONGATION ANGLE seen from the observers' location at print-time. The '/r' column provides a code indicating the targets' apparent position relative to the Sun in the observers' sky, as described below: Case A: For an observing location on the surface of a rotating body, that body rotational sense is considered: /T indicates target TRAILS Sun (evening sky: rises and sets AFTER Sun) /L indicates target LEADS Sun (morning sky: rises and sets BEFORE Sun) Case B: For an observing point that does not have a rotational model (such as a spacecraft), the "leading" and "trailing" condition is defined by the observers' heliocentric ORBITAL motion: * If continuing in the observers' current direction of heliocentric motion would encounter the targets' apparent longitude first, followed by the Sun's, the target LEADS the Sun as seen by the observer. * If the Sun's apparent longitude would be encountered first, followed by the targets', the target TRAILS the Sun. Two other codes can be output: /* indicates observer is Sun-centered (undefined) /? Target is aligned with Sun center (no lead or trail) The S-O-T solar elongation angle is numerically the minimum separation angle of the Sun and target in the sky in any direction. It does NOT indicate the amount of separation in the leading or trailing directions, which would be defined along the equator of a spherical coordinate system. Units: DEGREES 'S-T-O' = The Sun-Target-Observer angle; the interior vertex angle at target center formed by a vector from the target to the apparent center of the Sun (at reflection time on the target) and the apparent vector from target to the observer at print-time. Slightly different from true PHASE ANGLE (requestable separately) at the few arcsecond level in that it includes stellar aberration on the down-leg from target to observer. Units: DEGREES 'T-O-M/MN_Illu%' = Target-Observer-Moon LUNAR ELONGATION angle and illuminated percentage. The apparent lunar elongation angle between target body center and Moon center, seen from the observing site, along with fraction of the lunar disk illuminated by the Sun. A negative lunar elongation angle indicates the target center is behind the Moon. Units: DEGREES & PERCENT 'RA_3sigma DEC_3sigma' = Uncertainty in Right-Ascension and Declination. Output values are the formal +/- 3 standard-deviations (sigmas) around nominal position. Units: ARCSECONDS 'Sky_motion Sky_mot_PA RelVel-ANG' = Total apparent angular rate of the target in the plane-of-sky. "Sky_mot_PA" is the position angle of the target's direction of motion in the plane-of-sky, measured counter-clockwise from the apparent of-date north pole direction. "RelVel-ANG" is the flight path angle of the target's relative motion with respect to the observer's line-of-sight, in the range [-90,+90], where positive values indicate motion away from the observer, negative values are toward the observer: -90 = target is moving directly toward the observer 0 = target is moving at right angles to the observer's line-of-sight +90 = target is moving directly away from the observer UNITS: ARCSECONDS/MINUTE, DEGREES, DEGREES Computations by ... Solar System Dynamics Group, Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Pasadena, CA 91109 USA General site: https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/ Mailing list: https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/email_list.html System news : https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/news.html User Guide : https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/manual.html Connect : browser https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/app.html#/x API https://ssd-api.jpl.nasa.gov/doc/horizons.html command-line telnet ssd.jpl.nasa.gov 6775 e-mail/batch https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/ftp/ssd/horizons_batch.txt scripts https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/ftp/ssd/SCRIPTS Author : Jon.D.Giorgini@jpl.nasa.gov ***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************