欧罗巴快船与彗星

2024年10月17日

The Clipper and the Comet
Image Credit & Copyright: Ben Cooper (Launch Photography)

Explanation: NASA’s Europa Clipper is now headed toward an ocean world beyond Earth. The large spacecraft is tucked into the payload fairing atop the Falcon Heavy rocket in this photo, taken at Kennedy Space Center the day before the mission’s successful October 14 launch. Europa Clipper’s interplanetary voyage will first take it to Mars, then back to Earth, and then on to Jupiter on gravity assist trajectories that will allow it to enter orbit around Jupiter in April 2030. Once orbiting Jupiter, the spacecraft will fly past Europa 49 times, exploring a Jovian moon with a global subsurface ocean that may have conditions to support life. Posing in the background next to the floodlit rocket is Comet Tsuchinsan-ATLAS, about a day after the comet’s closest approach to Earth. A current darling of evening skies, the naked-eye comet is a vistor from the distant Oort cloud.

Growing Gallery: Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in 2024
Tomorrow’s picture: pixels in space

欧罗巴快船与彗星
影像提供与版权: Ben Cooper (Launch Photography)

说明: 美国国家航空航天局的欧罗巴快船（Europa Clipper），现在正朝着地球外的海洋世界前进。这张摄于肯尼迪航天中心的照片，拍照的10月14日是此项任务成功发射的前一天。影像里，这个大型探测器，已安装在猎鹰重型火箭的整流罩内。欧罗巴快船的行星际旅程，将首先前往火星，然后再返回地球，并透过重力协航调整轨道前往木星，预计在2030年4月入轨木星。一旦进入木星轨道，这个探测器将飞越木卫二49次，探索这颗拥有全球性地下海洋、或许具备有支持生命发展条件的木星卫星。在这幅影像的背景中，与泛光灯光中的火箭一起入镜的是紫金山-阿特拉斯彗星，这是它在最接近地球后一天左右的身影。这颗来自遥远奥尔特云的肉眼可见彗星，目前是傍晚天空中的宠儿。

不断增长的画廊: 2024年的紫金山-阿特拉斯彗星
明日的图片: pixels in space