Nina Baker
Rayme Traub placed his daughter's name onto the interior vault of Europa Clipper, a NASA probe that will eventually soar to Jupiter.
While members of the public could get their names onto a microchip on an exterior plate, only people like Traub, with ties to the mission, were able to transmit personal notes inside the vault itself.
"She's too young to understand it right now," Traub, 41, said about his 5-year-old daughter, Renata. "This is my way to honor her forever."
Right now, her name is traveling through space, Traub said, beyond where any human has ever journeyed.
Traub, a graduate of Sherrard High School and an engineer for NASA, is returning to the Quad-Cities after years working across the East Coast on the Europa Clipper probe. The probe was launched Oct. 14, 2024, to explore Jupiter's moon Europa, one of few planetary bodies in the solar system with the potential to support life.
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Traub said Europa Clipper is a vital step in exploring the solar system beyond Earth and nearby planets like Mars.
"We'll look for any signs of potential life," Traub said. "And when I mean life, I'm not saying a little green man in a lawn chair. We're going to be looking for amino acids, and the particles that can make life."
On Saturday, March 1, NASA scientists will have their first opportunity to test many of the advanced cameras and equipment on Europa Clipper. At around noon, Europa Clipper will streak past Mars, using the planet's gravity to undergo a gravitational slingshot maneuver and cast the probe in a new flight path. As Europa Clipper glides above Mars, mission scientists will attempt to do some scans of Mars with the equipment, Traub said.
"It's nerve-wracking, honestly," Traub said.
Traub said he began working on Europa Clipper around 2016 after NASA officials approached him to work on the probe due to his experience in radiation protection. One of the biggest challenges NASA scientists had to solve before launching the probe was determining how to protect the probe from Jupiter's intense radiation, Traub said.
To get close to Europa, the probe must pass through Jupiter's immense magnetosphere, which causes intense radiation that could destroy many standard spacecrafts and probes.
The magnetosphere of Jupiter is the largest known astronomical phenomenon in the Solar System. If it glowed in wavelengths visible to the human eye, the magnetosphere would appear two to three times the size of the Sun to viewers on Earth, according to NASA.
To protect from the radiation, the equipment on Europa Clipper is enclosed in a thick-walled vault made of titanium and aluminum.
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The probe will travel 1.8 billion miles before reaching Jupiter in April 2030. Once in Jupiter's orbit, the probe will conduct around 50 flybys of Europa, gathering data on the moon's topography.
"If it doesn't work, they can point fingers at me, so it's a lot of pressure," Traub said, laughing.
Traub once dreamed of being an astronaut. As a child, he watched Flash Gordon, Star Wars and Star Trek. Most strongly, Traub said, he was inspired by the work of Carl Sagan and Neil deGrasse Tyson.
He never achieved the dream of exploring other planets himself, but his work on Europa Clipper still fulfills much of that vision, Traub said.
"I was that kid who looked up at the stars and said 'Oh, what's out there?'" he said.
After years working on Europa Clipper, Traub said he is excited to return to the Quad-Cities. He will continue working with NASA, but said he plans to shift his priorities elsewhere in life, such as his friends, family and his daughter.
"It's my home. It's always going to be my home," Traub said about the Quad-Cities. "I'm going to put my roots back down."
Traub's next projects will involve work on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, a space telescope set to launch in 2027, and the Habitable Worlds Observatory, which is the first space telescope designed to search for life on planets outside the solar system.
There are more stars in the observable universe than grains of sand on Earth, Traub said. He said he believes some form of life exists beyond Earth.
"We're just one little grain of sand with life," Traub said. "I'm not saying it's intelligent or not, because that's a mystery. But there's something out there."
Traub called the Habitable Worlds Observatory "legendary," and said he feels honored to contribute to a mission of such magnitude.
"That is the last thing I'll ever work on," Traub said. "As much as I would love to do this at 150 years old, reality has to set in that I'm probably not going to be there."
The position of Europa Clipper can be tracked in real time at eyes.nasa.gov.
Close Intro NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP
On July 4, NASA's Juno spacecraft performed a nail-biting move that placed it into orbit around Jupiter to explore its cloud-covered atmosphere and interior makeup.
Here are a few key numbers about the $1.1 billion mission to the biggest planet in the solar system.
Above: An artist's rendering shows the Juno spacecraft above the planet Jupiter.
1.8 billion miles AP Photo/Terry Renna
That's the total distance traveled from launch to arrival. Juno's journey wasn't a straight shot. Because the rocket that carried Juno wasn't powerful enough to boost it directly to Jupiter, it took a longer route. It looped around the inner solar system and then swung by Earth, using our planet as a gravity slingshot to hurtle toward the outer solar system.
Above: An Atlas V rocket carrying the Juno spacecraft lifts off from Space Launch Complex-41 in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Friday, Aug. 5, 2011.
3,100 miles NASA/ESA/Hubble via AP
That's how close Juno will fly to Jupiter's cloud tops. It'll pass over the poles 37 times during the mission on a path that avoids the most intense radiation.
Above: This composite image illustrates auroras on the planet Jupiter. NASA produced the image using a photograph made by the Hubble Space Telescope in spring 2014 and ultraviolet observations of the auroras in 2016.
48 minutes, 19 seconds AP Photo/Richard Vogel
That's the time it took for radio signals from Jupiter to reach Earth. During the encounter, Juno fired its main engine for about a half hour to slow down. By the time ground controllers receive word, the engine burn was completed, placing Juno in orbit.
Above: Jim Green, director, Planetary Science Division, NASA, left, talks during a media briefing at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., on Monday, July 4, 2016. Joining him are Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator, second from left; Rick Nybakken, Juno project manager, second from right; and Heidi Becker, Juno radiation monitoring investigation lead.
20 months NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP
That's how long the mission will last. Because Juno is in a harsh radiation environment, its delicate electronics are housed in a special titanium vault. Eventually, Juno will succumb to the intense radiation and will be commanded to plunge into Jupiter's atmosphere to avoid any collision with the planet's moons.
Above: An artist's rendering provided by NASA and JPL-Caltech shows the Juno spacecraft above the planet Jupiter.
Nine AP Photo/Richard Vogel
Juno carries a suite of nine instruments to explore Jupiter from its interior to its atmosphere. It will map Jupiter's gravity and magnetic fields and track how much water is in the atmosphere. Its color camera dubbed JunoCam will snap close-ups of Jupiter's swirling clouds, polar regions and shimmering southern and northern lights.
Above: A 1/4 scale model size of NASA's solar-powered Juno spacecraft is displayed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. on Friday, July 1, 2016.
Three AP Photo/Richard Vogel
Three massive solar wings extend from Juno, making it the most distant solar-powered spacecraft. The panels can generate 500 watts of electricity, enough to power the instruments.
Above: A 1/5 scale model size of NASA's solar-powered Juno spacecraft is displayed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., on Friday, July 1, 2016.
3-2-1: A look at NASA's Jupiter mission by the numbers
It took years for Juno to reach Jupiter. But thanks to the planet's intense radiation, the spacecraft's mission could last for only 20 months.
Intro NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP
On July 4, NASA's Juno spacecraft performed a nail-biting move that placed it into orbit around Jupiter to explore its cloud-covered atmosphere and interior makeup.
Here are a few key numbers about the $1.1 billion mission to the biggest planet in the solar system.
Above: An artist's rendering shows the Juno spacecraft above the planet Jupiter.
1.8 billion miles AP Photo/Terry Renna
That's the total distance traveled from launch to arrival. Juno's journey wasn't a straight shot. Because the rocket that carried Juno wasn't powerful enough to boost it directly to Jupiter, it took a longer route. It looped around the inner solar system and then swung by Earth, using our planet as a gravity slingshot to hurtle toward the outer solar system.
Above: An Atlas V rocket carrying the Juno spacecraft lifts off from Space Launch Complex-41 in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Friday, Aug. 5, 2011.
3,100 miles NASA/ESA/Hubble via AP
That's how close Juno will fly to Jupiter's cloud tops. It'll pass over the poles 37 times during the mission on a path that avoids the most intense radiation.
Above: This composite image illustrates auroras on the planet Jupiter. NASA produced the image using a photograph made by the Hubble Space Telescope in spring 2014 and ultraviolet observations of the auroras in 2016.
48 minutes, 19 seconds AP Photo/Richard Vogel
That's the time it took for radio signals from Jupiter to reach Earth. During the encounter, Juno fired its main engine for about a half hour to slow down. By the time ground controllers receive word, the engine burn was completed, placing Juno in orbit.
Above: Jim Green, director, Planetary Science Division, NASA, left, talks during a media briefing at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., on Monday, July 4, 2016. Joining him are Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator, second from left; Rick Nybakken, Juno project manager, second from right; and Heidi Becker, Juno radiation monitoring investigation lead.
20 months NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP
That's how long the mission will last. Because Juno is in a harsh radiation environment, its delicate electronics are housed in a special titanium vault. Eventually, Juno will succumb to the intense radiation and will be commanded to plunge into Jupiter's atmosphere to avoid any collision with the planet's moons.
Above: An artist's rendering provided by NASA and JPL-Caltech shows the Juno spacecraft above the planet Jupiter.
Nine AP Photo/Richard Vogel
Juno carries a suite of nine instruments to explore Jupiter from its interior to its atmosphere. It will map Jupiter's gravity and magnetic fields and track how much water is in the atmosphere. Its color camera dubbed JunoCam will snap close-ups of Jupiter's swirling clouds, polar regions and shimmering southern and northern lights.
Above: A 1/4 scale model size of NASA's solar-powered Juno spacecraft is displayed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. on Friday, July 1, 2016.
Three AP Photo/Richard Vogel
Three massive solar wings extend from Juno, making it the most distant solar-powered spacecraft. The panels can generate 500 watts of electricity, enough to power the instruments.
Above: A 1/5 scale model size of NASA's solar-powered Juno spacecraft is displayed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., on Friday, July 1, 2016.
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