On Saturday, March 1, NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft whipped around Mars just 550 miles (884 kilometers) above the Red Planet’s surface for a gravity assist. The maneuver gave the spacecraft a boost on its long journey to the icy moon of Jupiter, where it is will conduct the first dedicated and detailed study of an ocean world beyond Earth. Onboard the spacecraft is the LASP-built Surface Dust Analyzer, or SUDA instrument. When it arrives in 2030, it won’t be the first time a LASP instrument has been to the Jupiter system. In fact, LASP instruments have studied every planet in our solar system…and beyond. Here are some highlights from just a few of the planetary science missions in which LASP has been involved.
MERCURY – The Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) mission launched in 2004 and conducted the first orbital study of our solar system’s mysterious innermost planet. Onboard was the LASP-built MASCS instrument, a spectrometer designed to detect minerals on Mercury’s surface and determine the abundance and components of its thin atmosphere. MESSENGER had many firsts—including detecting magnesium in Mercury’s exosphere and showing that magnesium, sodium, and calcium exhibit distinctive spatial patterns that repeat every Mercury year—suggesting the tiny planet has seasons not unlike Earth. MESSENGER impacted the surface, as planned, in April 2015, and remains one of only three missions to study the planet.
VENUS – The Pioneer Venus Orbiter, which launched in 1978, was the first of a two-spacecraft orbiter-probe combination designed to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the planet’s volatile atmosphere. Onboard was the LASP-built UVS (ultraviolet spectrometer), which studied the planet’s atmosphere, ionosphere, gravity and magnetic fields, and surface. UVS is one of LASP’s most flown remote sensing instruments. Different versions of the UVS have flown on Galileo, Mariners 6, 7, and 9, Pioneer Venus, and the Solar Mesophere Explorer, among other missions, and studied the composition around Earth, Jupiter, Venus, Mars and comets.
EARTH – We’ve visited Earth a lot because, well…we live here. The Solar Mesosphere Explorer (SME) was an Earth-orbiting spacecraft designed to investigate the processes that create and destroy ozone in the mesosphere, the uppermost layer of Earth’s atmosphere. SME, which launched in 1981, helped confirm the existence of the ozone hole. The mission also marked the first time an institution other than NASA was allowed to lead a NASA mission, with LASP founding director Charles Barth serving as the principal investigator. With this mission, LASP also developed a command-and-control system and pioneered the use of students as flight controllers, which continues to this day. SME returned data until April 1989 and reentered Earth’s atmosphere about a year later.
MARS – The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission has been studying the Martian atmosphere (or lack thereof) since 2014 and continues to do so today! LASP is the lead institute on the mission, whose goal is to determine how Mars lost its atmosphere and the role this played in changing the Martian climate through time. The eight instruments on board are gathering information about the Martian upper atmosphere to help scientists understand how the Red Planet’s climate changed from warm and wet to today’s cold, dry conditions. LASP provided three of those instruments: the Extreme Ultraviolet Monitor (EUVM), the Langmuir Probe and Waves (LPW) instrument, and the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS).
JUPITER – Europa Clipper won’t be the first mission to Jupiter in which LASP has participated. Galileo reached Jupiter in 1995 and studied the gas giant system until 2003. The Galileo mission made many amazing discoveries, including new information about the storms on Jupiter and the discovery of the likely subsurface ocean on Europa. The mission ended with the spacecraft crashing into Jupiter to take some final measurements of the Jovian atmosphere. LASP provided two instruments for the mission—the Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EUV) and an ultraviolet spectrometer (UVS)—and has continued to conduct research based on their data.
SATURN – The Cassini probe arrived at Saturn in 2004 and conducted more than a decade of research in the Saturnian system, including an extensive investigation of its rings. Cassini had 12 instruments that returned a daily stream of data from Saturn’s system, unlocking the many mysteries of the planet and its moons, including Titan and Enceladus. LASP provided the UltraViolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) instrument, a precursor of the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) on the MAVEN mission. Towards the end of the mission, during its “Grand Finale” set of 22 orbits, Cassini made a remarkable series of dives between the planet and its rings before the mission concluded in September 2017 with the Cassini orbiter intentionally plunging into Saturn’s atmosphere.
URANUS & NEPTUNE – Voyager 2 visited both of these ice giants, reaching Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989. If that’s not cool enough, it’s now traveling in interstellar space! For both Voyager spacecrafts, LASP provided the Photopolarimeter Subsystem—a telescope fitted with filters and polarization analyzers that was designed to determine the physical properties of particulate matter in the atmospheres of the outer planets. More than 47 years after their launches, the Voyager spacecrafts continue their journey into the cosmos. Now more than 15 billion miles from Earth, Voyager 1 is the most distant human-made object in space.
PLUTO – Call it a planet or not, we were excited to get to Pluto! The New Horizons Pluto-Kuiper Belt Mission launched in January 2006 and completed its flyby of the Pluto system in mid-July 2015. Data coming back from New Horizons is helping us to understand the icy worlds at the edge of our solar system. The mission is now slated to investigate other objects in the Kuiper belt beyond the distant dwarf planet. LASP provided the Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter (VBSDC), an instrument designed to detect dust impacts in outer space. VBSDC was designed and built by students at LASP and the University of Colorado at Boulder and is the first student-built science instrument to fly on a NASA planetary mission. The dust counter was named in 2006 after Venetia Burney, the young girl who originally named Pluto.
Once Europa Clipper to reaches Jupiter in 2030, it will start exploring Europa for signs that the distant icy moon may have conditions suitable for life. The spacecraft is not being sent to find life itself but will instead try to answer specific questions about Europa’s ocean, ice shell, composition, and geology. LASP’s SUDA instrument will measure compounds in the dust environment around Europa and connect them to their origin on the surface. This allows simultaneous compositional mapping of many organic and inorganic components, including both major and trace compounds, with a single instrument.
As we eagerly await the revolutionary scientific results Europa Clipper and SUDA could provide, LASP continues to look for innovative and cost-effective ways to study our neighborhood in space. In August, LASP will be hosting the 2025 International Workshop for Planetary Instrumentation (IPM-2025). This workshop, which will be held on the University of Colorado Boulder’s East Campus from August 4-6, will convene scientists, engineers and students to discuss instrumentation and enabling technologies that are necessary to address key questions in planetary science. The conference will have dedicated sessions on the Uranus Orbiter and Probe, Asteroid Exploration, and Lunar Exploration Opportunities, in addition to general sessions on planetary instrumentation and enabling technologies.
By Sara Pratt, LASP Senior Communications Specialist
Founded a decade before NASA, the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder is on a mission to revolutionize human understanding of the cosmos by pioneering new technologies and approaches to space science. The institute is at the forefront of solar, planetary, and space physics research, climate and space-weather monitoring, and the search for evidence of habitable worlds. LASP is also deeply committed to inspiring and educating the next generation of space explorers. From the first exploratory rocket measurements of Earth’s upper atmosphere to trailblazing observations of every planet in the solar system, LASP continues to build on its remarkable history with a nearly $1 billion portfolio of new research and engineering programs, backed by superb data analysis, reliable mission operations, and skilled administrative support.
