Agile Supports NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission
Photo of of the clipper spacecraft (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
How Agile Space Industries was trusted by NASA to run system testing on Europa Clipper.
NASA is heading to Jupiter via Durango, Colorado. The Europa Clipper mission launched on October 14th, 2024 from Kennedy Space Center with the goal of conducting scientific research to evaluate the potential for sustainable life on Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. According to the mission plan, the spacecraft will travel 1.8 billion miles to reach Jupiter in April 2030. It will orbit the planet and conduct 49 close flybys of Europa.
Undeniably a sophisticated, complex and critical mission, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center required rigorous testing of the propulsion systems and subcomponents that would get the spacecraft to this remote destination. They selected in-space propulsion experts at Agile Space Industries for the job – and we couldn’t be more proud to have played a critical role in a mission of this magnitude.
Agile was contracted to develop, construct and operate test apparatuses for three distinct test needs to evaluate various components and operations within the Europa Clipper’s propulsion systems. All testing was conducted at our Durango, Colorado test facility and involved measuring flow rates of propellants, pressurants, and peak pressures within prototypes of the spacecraft’s propulsion systems.
Photos of Europe with an artist’s rendering of Clipper in orbit. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
For the first test program, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) required characterization of a venturi flow meter flowing water and a common hypergolic oxidizer, MON3. Venturi flow meters are used to measure flow rates based on differential pressure and known flow passage geometries alone. They’re simple and reliable as long as they’re well characterized. Agile performed flow tests with deionized water, unsaturated MON3, and helium saturated MON3. The overall goal of this program was to compare flow testing results to determine if there would be a difference in flow meter function on the spacecraft when measuring flow rates of unsaturated MON3 and helium saturated MON3. As liquids sit in contact with gases in tanks the gases will slowly diffuse into solution within the liquids, akin to carbonation. As those gas-saturated liquids begin moving, gases will come out of solution, analogous to bubbles forming in a soda when the can is opened. As a part of this test program Agile developed an innovative process that would qualify the level of helium saturation within the oxidizer. Conducting flow tests with all three distinct fluids on the ground was key to ensuring propellant flow rates could be accurately measured on the spacecraft during its orbital maneuvers around Europa. All of these tests were conducted on Agile’s Sunshine test stand, named after Sunshine Mountain in San Miguel County.
“The propellant helium saturation process we developed was so successful that we adopted it to evaluate how our own engines will perform under similar, flight-like conditions,” said Agile engineer Mesa Hollinbeck.
The second Europa Clipper test program Agile conducted involved helium flow testing of gas metering orifices. GSFC provided the flow restricting orifices and Agile performed the actual flow testing. This flow testing began with a broader assessment of various potential orifice geometries, culminating in acceptance testing of the final units which were selected for integration into the spacecraft. This was a fairly simple test setup, but one of the first times Agile was responsible for critical space flight hardware. We installed each orifice into our test fixture, flowed helium through it at multiple target pressures, and measured the mass flow and pressure drop as a function of the orifice geometry. Based on the results of the testing, several of the orifices were selected and welded into the propellant system of the vehicle and are currently on their way to Jupiter.
Photo of the surface of Europa and the flight path of the spacecraft (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
The third test program was the most complex, requiring Agile to reconstruct a large representative portion of the Europa Clipper propulsion subsystem. The goal of this test program was to evaluate peak pressures throughout the propellant systems resulting from propellant priming operations. To avoid chemical degradation of sensitive equipment during flight, propellants are generally not introduced into a spacecraft's feed systems until they are ready for use. As valves will be opened on the spacecraft to introduce propellants into various portions of the system, the fluids will flow quickly into the downstream pipes and eventually run into other valves causing pressure spikes. These pressure spikes are known as “water hammer” spikes. A common example of a water hammer at home is the loud bang we hear when a washing machine or dishwasher shuts off and the flow of water is suddenly stopped. The math for calculating those peak pressures is complex, largely dependent upon the unique geometry of the plumbing systems in question.
Agile was responsible for constructing a 2-D representation of the Europa Clipper’s propellant systems, preserving relevant geometry to succinctly evaluate the water hammer surge pressures. This 2-D propellant system was designed to allow for quick interchange of flow control components, valve configurations and varying upstream and downstream pressures within the system. Deionized water was used as a proxy fluid rather than the actual hypergolic propellants for ease of operations and personnel safety. Use of a proxy fluid like this is common and the validity of doing so was also proven out during the initial venturi flow meter testing.
Artists’ rendering of Clipper in orbit around Europa and Jupiter in the background. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Agile has been supporting component testing enabling the success of NASA’s Europa Clipper since 2018. Now, with the spacecraft on its way to Jupiter we’re proud to say that the hardware we tested is integral to determining if there are life-sustaining conditions on Jupiter’s moon Europa. Solving unique challenges, devising new processes, procedures, ground support and flight hardware to ensure mission success is all part of why we’ve become a trusted partner of the U.S. government and many commercial customers.
Photo credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Media Contacts:
Juleah Kaliski
juleah.kaliski@agilespaceindustries.com
530-351-2179
Attributes to:
Mesa Hollinbeck
Jodi Sorensen
Hilary Meyerson
