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 Wed Apr 23 17:45:35 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: Swan Reach Imaging, Glenalta ******************************************************************************* 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 : 139.5701, -34.5440227, .056888 {E-lon(deg),Lat(deg),Alt(km)} Center cylindric: 139.5701,5259.32258,-3596.34777 {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.250423.p250719 EOP coverage : DATA-BASED 1962-JAN-20 TO 2025-APR-23. PREDICTS-> 2025-JUL-18 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 >..... Elevation Cut-off Requested .....< >..... Daylight Cut-off Requested .....< 2024-Oct-31 16:10 r 08 35 56.24 +30 28 31.5 52.479170 -0.425773 n.a. n.a. 0.999657845978 2.2584076 0.06191308267785 5.7847937 94.6966 /L 81.7656 85.9/ 0.6589 n.a. n.a. 0.3334034 317.88045 87.530167 2024-Oct-31 16:20 08 35 56.06 +30 28 34.0 51.048007 1.196163 n.a. n.a. 0.999666906950 2.2600199 0.06193629268820 5.7905609 94.7043 /L 81.7567 86.0/ 0.6450 n.a. n.a. 0.3439572 314.82285 87.453669 2024-Oct-31 16:30 08 35 55.87 +30 28 36.4 49.579571 2.785279 n.a. n.a. 0.999675974388 2.2616321 0.06195952697578 5.7968992 94.7120 /L 81.7477 86.1/ 0.6312 n.a. n.a. 0.3548025 311.95011 87.375376 2024-Oct-31 16:40 08 35 55.65 +30 28 38.7 48.072302 4.339654 n.a. n.a. 0.999685048292 2.2632443 0.06198278780604 5.8037961 94.7198 /L 81.7386 86.3/ 0.6178 n.a. n.a. 0.3658371 309.24982 87.296065 2024-Oct-31 16:50 08 35 55.43 +30 28 41.0 46.524692 5.857270 n.a. n.a. 0.999694128661 2.2648563 0.06200607739229 5.8112379 94.7276 /L 81.7296 86.4/ 0.6045 n.a. n.a. 0.3769662 306.70909 87.216455 2024-Oct-31 17:00 08 35 55.19 +30 28 43.2 44.935302 7.336014 n.a. n.a. 0.999703215495 2.2664683 0.06202939789074 5.8192100 94.7355 /L 81.7204 86.5/ 0.5916 n.a. n.a. 0.3881028 304.31508 87.137202 2024-Oct-31 17:10 08 35 54.93 +30 28 45.3 43.302782 8.773677 n.a. n.a. 0.999712308794 2.2680802 0.06205275139703 5.8276968 94.7434 /L 81.7113 86.6/ 0.5789 n.a. n.a. 0.3991670 302.05531 87.058905 2024-Oct-31 17:20 08 35 54.66 +30 28 47.4 41.625898 10.167958 n.a. n.a. 0.999721408557 2.2696920 0.06207613994188 5.8366816 94.7513 /L 81.7021 86.7/ 0.5665 n.a. n.a. 0.4100856 299.91789 86.982110 2024-Oct-31 17:30 08 35 54.38 +30 28 49.4 39.903555 11.516466 n.a. n.a. 0.999730514784 2.2713038 0.06209956548771 5.8461468 94.7593 /L 81.6928 86.8/ 0.5543 n.a. n.a. 0.4207917 297.89165 86.907313 2024-Oct-31 17:40 08 35 54.09 +30 28 51.3 38.134827 12.816726 n.a. n.a. 0.999739627475 2.2729155 0.06212302992402 5.8560738 94.7673 /L 81.6835 86.9/ 0.5424 n.a. n.a. 0.4312243 295.96617 86.834960 2024-Oct-31 17:50 08 35 53.78 +30 28 53.2 36.318989 14.066188 n.a. n.a. 0.999748746630 2.2745271 0.06214653506448 5.8664433 94.7754 /L 81.6742 87.0/ 0.5308 n.a. n.a. 0.4413275 294.13184 86.765454 2024-Oct-31 18:00 08 35 53.46 +30 28 54.9 34.455554 15.262235 n.a. n.a. 0.999757872247 2.2761386 0.06217008264284 5.8772349 94.7835 /L 81.6648 87.1/ 0.5194 n.a. n.a. 0.4510504 292.37977 86.699159 2024-Oct-31 18:10 A 08 35 53.13 +30 28 56.6 32.544302 16.402199 n.a. n.a. 0.999767004328 2.2777500 0.06219367431009 5.8884277 94.7916 /L 81.6555 87.2/ 0.5083 n.a. n.a. 0.4603467 290.70181 86.636398 2024-Oct-31 18:20 A 08 35 52.80 +30 28 58.2 30.585324 17.483372 n.a. n.a. 0.999776142870 2.2793614 0.06221731163108 5.8999996 94.7997 /L 81.6460 87.3/ 0.4975 n.a. n.a. 0.4691740 289.09048 86.577462 2024-Oct-31 18:30 A 08 35 52.45 +30 28 59.6 28.579055 18.503030 n.a. n.a. 0.999785287875 2.2809727 0.06224099608163 5.9119282 94.8079 /L 81.6366 87.4/ 0.4869 n.a. n.a. 0.4774940 287.53891 86.522608 2024-Oct-31 18:40 A 08 35 52.09 +30 29 01.0 26.526307 19.458450 n.a. n.a. 0.999794439342 2.2825839 0.06226472904558 5.9241902 94.8161 /L 81.6271 87.5/ 0.4766 n.a. n.a. 0.4852719 286.04079 86.472062 2024-Oct-31 18:50 N 08 35 51.73 +30 29 02.3 24.428307 20.346939 n.a. n.a. 0.999803597270 2.2841950 0.06228851181214 5.9367616 94.8243 /L 81.6176 87.6/ 0.4666 n.a. n.a. 0.4924763 284.59030 86.426022 2024-Oct-31 19:00 N 08 35 51.35 +30 29 03.5 22.286715 21.165859 n.a. n.a. 0.999812761660 2.2858061 0.06231234557367 5.9496181 94.8325 /L 81.6081 87.7/ 0.4568 n.a. n.a. 0.4990790 283.18206 86.384658 2024-Oct-31 19:10 N 08 35 50.97 +30 29 04.6 20.103655 21.912655 n.a. n.a. 0.999821932510 2.2874170 0.06233623142267 5.9627344 94.8408 /L 81.5986 87.7/ 0.4473 n.a. n.a. 0.5050548 281.81111 86.348117 2024-Oct-31 19:20 Cm 08 35 50.59 +30 29 05.5 17.881717 22.584894 n.a. n.a. 0.999831109821 2.2890279 0.06236017035042 5.9760851 94.8490 /L 81.5890 87.8/ 0.4380 n.a. n.a. 0.5103814 280.47281 86.316519 2024-Oct-31 19:30 Cm 08 35 50.20 +30 29 06.4 15.623966 23.180289 n.a. n.a. 0.999840293592 2.2906387 0.06238416324473 5.9896441 94.8573 /L 81.5795 87.9/ 0.4290 n.a. n.a. 0.5150393 279.16282 86.289964 >..... Daylight Cut-off Requested .....< $$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 ***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************