Watson Lecture - Tracy Drain: Europa Clipper - The Adventure Begins!

Europa is one of our solar system's most fascinating moons. Roughly 90% the size of Earth's moon, scientists believe this moon of Jupiter has an enormous saltwater ocean beneath its icy shell. Europa is a challenging place to study given its location far from the Sun, far from Earth, and bathed in the radiation field surrounding Jupiter. In this talk, Tracy Drain, chief engineer on the Europa Clipper mission, will share some of the engineering challenges involved in developing and launching this exciting spacecraft. She will touch on some of the adventures the Europa Clipper has already had since its October 2024 launch and describe what lies ahead on its 5.5-year journey to the Jovian system. The Europa Clipper mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which is managed by Caltech.

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Evening Schedule

6 p.m. — Activities and music. Food, drinks, and books available for purchase

7 p.m. — Doors open

7:30 p.m. — Talk and Q&A

8:30 p.m. — Post-talk concessions and conversation

The live event is in-person and a recording will be made available on our Youtube channel.

About the Series

For more than 100 years, the Watson Lectures have brought the wonder of Caltech research and discovery to the public.

Free and open to the public, the Watson Lecture Series offers a unique and accessible opportunity to learn more about cutting-edge science directly from Caltech's premier researchers. Come early to mingle with your neighbors over food, drink and music, as well as interactive displays related to the evening's topic. Then head inside to hear a stimulating talk and stay to ask your burning questions.

Many past Watson Lectures are available on YouTube.

For more information, please contact The Caltech Ticket Office by email at events@caltech.edu.