Summary

Here's a fairly accurate characterization of Europa Clipper's optical science instruments, which are mounted on and beside the Nadir Platform on the Spacecraft's Plus-Y side, atop the Vault. It's basically what you'd see when looking at a large public-display model of Clipper, but smaller.

This model is for familiarization; it is not accurate in scale, but it captures all the key features. It is optimized for easy 3D printing on commonly available FDM printers without the need for any support structures or rafts. It has been thoroughly tested on a Dremel Digilab 3D45, a device typical of which can be found in many libraries.

Once printed, assembly is pretty quick and easy. Cyanoacrylate glue in medium-thick viscosity works well.

The Optical Science Instruments are abbreviated on the model (counter-clockwise when looking down) as:

• UVS, the Europa Ultraviolet Spectrograph,
• EIS WAC, the Europa Imaging System Wide Angle Camera,
• E-THEMIS, the Europa Thermal Emission Imaging System,
• MISE, the Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (the large square panel on MISE is its thermal radiator), and
• EIS-NAC, the Narrow Angle Camera (its 152 mm aperture articulates plus and minus 30 degrees in each axis).

Please refer to the Europa Clipper website for descriptions of these and all the other Science instruments on the Spacecraft.

The two telescopes pointing downward from the left side are not science instruments. They are the optics of the SRUs, Stellar Reference Units (star trackers), which the Spacecraft uses for measuring (estimating) its orientation in three axes (attitude).

When mounting MISE to its footprint on the Baseplate, you may opt to snip off the parallel horizontal runners along MISE's bottom (minus-Y) side, for better accuracy. Their only purpose was to enable reliable printing and permit easier removal from your printing plate.

AN AFTERHOURS PROJECT — NO TAX DOLLARS WERE HARMED.