Gear up for the October 2024 launch of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, which will uncover the mysteries of Jupiter’s ocean moon Europa, with interactive exhibits, captivating models, and guest speaker Dr. Kevin Hand

Artist rendering of the icy Europa moon surface, with spacecraft and Jupiter in the background

Artist rendering of the Europa Clipper mission.

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA (August 6, 2024) — The California Academy of Sciences is thrilled to announce that it will host a special exhibit pop-up, Voyage of Europa Clipper: Exploring an Alien Ocean, brought to you by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), from September 4-9, 2024. This captivating exhibit experience is part of JPL’s engagement activities leading up to the highly anticipated launch of the Europa Clipper mission in October 2024.

Exhibit Highlights: Voyager of Europa Clipper: Exploring an Alien Ocean

With experts from NASA on hand to guide and educate, visitors will get a taste of what it’s like to be on the Europa Clipper mission through engaging with:

  • Inflatable Model of Europa: Get an up-close look at a stunning 8 foot inflatable model of Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, known for its subsurface ocean.
  • Spacecraft and Instrument Models: Explore detailed models of the Europa Clipper spacecraft and its instruments, designed to draw parallels between the life-sustaining oceans on Earth and the subsurface ocean on Europa.
  • Interactive Experiments: Participate in hands-on experiments that explain the sophisticated instruments onboard the spacecraft. From imagers to magnetometers, the experiments will demonstrate how we see, smell, and examine Europa with UV light demos, sniffing atmosphere components, and feeling how the magnetic pull from Jupiter affects its moon.
  • Educational Graphics: Learn about Europa’s intriguing history and its potential for harboring life through engaging and informative graphics.
  • Creative Activities: Enjoy all-ages activities that blend science with art, including writing your own poem about space like the U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limon and coloring your own version of what Europa could look like.

This immersive experience is designed not just to inform, but to captivate and energize visitors, amplifying excitement and anticipation for the Europa Clipper mission. It underscores NASA and JPL’s commitment to involving the public in the groundbreaking journey to another ocean world.

On Monday, September 9 at 7:30 p.m. Kevin Hand, PhD, will give an insightful Benjamin Dean Astronomy Lecture on the Europa Clipper mission. As the Europa Clipper project co-investigator and director of NASA JPL’s Ocean Worlds Lab, Hand will offer an in-depth look at the science and goals behind this ambitious exploration of Jupiter’s moon Europa. Details and tickets here.

The Europa Clipper nationwide roadshow stopped at six unique locations across the country, including the St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station in St. Louis, MO; the Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans, LA; the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Woods Hole, MA; and SEA LIFE Aquarium and Orlando Science Center in Orlando, FL. The choice of aquariums, ocean research centers, and science centers is intended to bridge the aquatic wonders of Earth with the exploration of ocean worlds beyond our planet.
 

Media Contacts

Jeanette Peach
California Academy of Sciences
415-379-5130
jpeach@calacademy.org 

Gretchen McCartney
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
818-393-6215
gretchen.p.mccartney@jpl.nasa.gov

About the Europa Clipper Mission

Jupiter’s moon Europa shows strong evidence for an ocean of liquid water beneath its icy crust. Beyond Earth, Europa is considered one of the most promising currently habitable environments in our solar system. Evidence suggests a global ocean exists beneath Europa’s icy surface – home to more water than all of Earth’s oceans combined. Europa could have all the “ingredients” needed for life as we know it: water, organic, energy, and stability.

NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft will perform multiple flybys, gathering detailed measurements to investigate whether the moon could have conditions suitable for life. Europa Clipper is not a life detection mission – its main science goal is to determine whether there are places beneath Europa’s surface that could support life. Europa Clipper’s three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon’s icy shell and its surface interactions with the ocean below, to investigate the moon's composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission’s detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.

Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

To learn more about the mission, visit europa.nasa.gov.

About the California Academy of Sciences

The California Academy of Sciences is a renowned scientific and educational institution with a mission to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration. Based in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, it is home to a world-class aquarium, planetarium, and natural history museum, as well as innovative programs in biodiversity science, environmental learning, and collaborative engagement—all under one living roof. Museum hours are 9:30 am – 5:00 pm Monday – Saturday, and 11:00 am – 5:00 pm on Sunday. Admission includes all exhibits, programs, and shows. For daily ticket prices, please visit www.calacademy.org or call (415) 379-8000 for more information.

Press Contacts

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Jeanette Peach
(415) 379-5130
jpeach@calacademy.org

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