A highly anticipated NASA astrobiology mission is struggling to iron out serious problems just months before its scheduled launch.
of Europa Clipper The spacecraft is scheduled to launch in October this year. SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The robotic probe will embark on a $5 billion mission, Europethe moon of the icy ocean Jupiterto support life as we know it.
But that launch date, and the probe’s ability to carry out its ambitious mission, may now be in jeopardy: Mission team members have discovered a problem with a transistor in the probe’s Clipper, the device that controls the flow of electricity.
“The transistor problem became apparent in May when the mission team received reports that similar components were failing at lower than expected radiation doses,” NASA officials wrote in the report. Updated Thursday (July 11th).
This is a serious concern because the Clippers are exposed to radiation threats.
“The Jovian system is particularly hostile to spacecraft. Its enormous magnetic field Its magnetic field — 20,000 times stronger than Earth’s — captures charged particles and accelerates them to extremely high energies, creating powerful radiation that showers Europa and other planets. Inner Moon” NASA officials wrote in an update.
Europa Clipper is scheduled to arrive in the Jupiter system in 2030. Although the probe will orbit the gas giant rather than Europa, it will still spend a significant amount of time in Jupiter’s vicinity. Clipper is scheduled to make about 50 flybys of Europa during its three-and-a-half-year science mission.
Related: Why NASA’s Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter’s icy moon is so important
In May, the mission team was told that a transistor-like component on Europa Clipper “failed at lower than expected levels of radiation,” NASA officials wrote in an update Thursday. Testing of the transistor is currently underway at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory The mission is led by NASA in Southern California in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
The results are not always what you would expect.
“Testing data obtained so far indicates that some of the transistors will likely fail in the high-radiation environments near Jupiter and its moon Europa because the components are not as radiation tolerant as expected,” NASA officials wrote.
“The team is working to determine how many transistors are susceptible and how they might behave during flight,” the researchers added. “NASA is exploring options to maximize the transistors’ lifetime in the Jovian system. A preliminary analysis is expected to be completed in late July.”
The device in question is called a metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET), and is made by a company called Infineon Technologies. According to Science magazineIf their vulnerability is discovered at this late stage, it will be very difficult to address.
“Transistors are not easily replaceable,” writes Science magazine’s Paul Voesen. “Clipper’s aluminum-zinc electron reservoir, which was supposed to be a measure of its radiation hardiness, was sealed off in October 2023. As long as there are no signs that the defective MOSFETs will cause catastrophic failure, NASA will likely ask for launches to continue, although a backup window will be available for the next two years.”
