The Europa Clipper spacecraft, en route to Jupiter, photographed Uranus. The images of the seventh planet were taken using its star sensor.
The Europa Clipper mission was launched in October 2024. Its target is Europa, Uranus’s icy moon, beneath whose surface lies a giant ocean. Europa Clipper will assess its characteristics, which will help answer the question of whether it can support the conditions necessary for life to exist.
On its way to Europe, Europa Clipper has already performed a gravity assist maneuver near Mars. At the end of next year, the spacecraft will approach Earth to gain speed. This will allow it to enter orbit around the gas giant in 2030.
While the spacecraft is en route, engineers are calibrating its scientific instruments and equipment, including the star tracker. This device is a camera used for interplanetary navigation. It captures images of the starry sky, which are then compared with a star catalog. This allows the spacecraft to maintain its correct orientation in space.
Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Although the star sensor is primarily intended for navigation, it can also be used for scientific purposes, as demonstrated by images published by NASA. They show Uranus, photographed by Europa Clipper on November 5, 2025. At the time of shooting, the spacecraft was 3.2 billion km away from the seventh planet of the Solar System.
Provided by NASA
