RaoscaffResearch
Prediction Series · Lock · Issue P-84
Prediction Series · P-84

Europa Clipper's Earth slingshot — locked at 96%.

96% probability NASA's Europa Clipper completes its scheduled Earth gravity-assist flyby (~3,200 km closest approach) in early December 2026 — a long-planned, routine trajectory milestone en route to Jupiter. Resolves by 31 Dec 2026 via NASA/JPL.

Type · Prediction Lock · scheduled-event near-certainty Locked · 2026-06-24 · ~5 months before the flyby Resolves · 2026-12-31 · NASA/JPL Europa Clipper mission updates Scored · binary: Earth gravity-assist flyby completed by year-end yes/no
Europa Clipper Earth flyby · our locked call
COMPLETED
~3,200 km closest approach · ~3 Dec 2026 · P = 0.96

Per NASA/JPL's published trajectory, Europa Clipper makes a ~3,200 km (2,000 mi) Earth gravity assist around 3 Dec 2026, a planned milestone on its 2030 Jupiter arrival path. Source: NASA/JPL Europa Clipper mission timeline (science.nasa.gov/mission/europa-clipper); resolves by 31 Dec 2026.

— 1 · The Locked Call

Europa Clipper completes its December 2026 Earth flyby — P = 0.96.

We lock a binary: NASA's Europa Clipper completes its scheduled Earth gravity-assist flyby (~3,200 km closest approach), planned for early December 2026, on or before 31 Dec 2026, per NASA/JPL mission updates. Confidence 96%.

— 2 · Why it's nail-able

A long-planned trajectory milestone — gravity assists are routine and deterministic.

The Earth flyby is a fixed point on Europa Clipper's published interplanetary trajectory (Mars 2025 → Earth 2026 → Jupiter 2030); the spacecraft is healthy and en route. Gravity-assist flybys are deterministic celestial-mechanics events, not launches subject to weather/scrub. Confidence 96%, shy of certainty, only for the residual tail of an unforeseen spacecraft anomaly. Resolves against NASA/JPL confirmation by year-end.

Locked on 2026-06-24 — scored against NASA/JPL confirmation of the Earth flyby.

RAOSCAFF locks P-84 on 2026-06-24. Scored on whether Europa Clipper completes its scheduled ~December 2026 Earth gravity-assist flyby by year-end, per NASA/JPL.

Locked
2026-06-24 (commit timestamp on origin/main)
Resolves
2026-12-31 — by year-end (flyby scheduled ~3 Dec 2026)
Source
NASA/JPL Europa Clipper mission timeline + updates (science.nasa.gov)
Scored by
Binary: YES if the Earth gravity-assist flyby is completed by 31 Dec 2026; NO otherwise

Resolution window set to year-end (not the exact 3 Dec date) so a few-day schedule shift can't create a false miss.