NASA Missions - Parker Solar Probe and Europa Clipper - Exploring the Solar System

Two NASA missions exploring our Solar System face different challenges: Parker Solar Probe and Europa Clipper. The Parker Solar Probe is circling our Sun ever closer providing valuable information about the corona and the Sun's upper atmosphere, but it faces brutal heat and radiation as it moves ever closer to the Sun. The upcoming Europa Clipper's main science goal is to determine whether there are places below the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, that could support life. Europa Clipper faces different challenges: extreme cold temperatures yet intense radiation from Jupiter's electromagnetic fields. We will talk about the science experiments and the technical challenges associated with both missions.

Antonio Martinez is a Solar System Ambassador for NASA-JPL, member of the Peninsula Astronomical Society, and an avid amateur astronomer. He works at Broadcom Corporation as an electronic engineer. Antonio is a resident of Los Altos for 30+ years, where he and his wife Sharon raised their children.