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30-07-2024, 09:36 AM
Recently discovered flaws in electronic circuits onboard NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft could threaten longevity or even the launch of $5 billion mission to explore Jupiter’s icy moon & ocean inside it. The packaged up probe continues to be prepared for an October flight from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, a “tiger team” of engineers convened by space agency is reviewing the issue, with a report expected later this month.
Problem stems from a batch of circuit elements, called metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors, or MOSFETs, not meet the radiation-hardness standards set for mission. Transistors serve as amplifiers or switches, turning power off & on parts of spacecraft. But like all electronics, they can be damaged by high-energy radiation particles. & Clipper, as it flies past Europa some 50 times during its planned life, will repeatedly face Jupiter’s radiation environment, one of the harshest ever navigated by a NASA mission.
Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), leads development of Clipper, discovered the problem in May after talking with colleagues about a classified satellite at a conference. They told the JPL staff a batch of radiation-hard MOSFETs developed by Infineon Technologies, a leading commercial supplier, was falling far below desired performance levels.
Concerns were passed along to NASA officials, 2 days ago briefed scientists on the agency’s independent planetary science panel. “We’re seeing some MOSFETs fail at lower radiation levels,” said Shannon Fitzpatrick, asso-director of planetary science flight programs, speaking on 9 July to NASA’s Planetary Science Advisory Committee (PSAC). “There is a risk these MOSFET transistors may not meet the radiation tolerance we require.” Radiation exposure has long been a central problem of exploring Jupiter & its moons. Jupiter’s magnetic field is (20,000 times stronger than Earth’s), and it spins rapidly, creating a torrent of bombarding charged particles. Europa mission, which will search the moon for evidence of habitable conditions in its subsurface ocean.
https://www.science.org/content/article/...er-mission
Problem stems from a batch of circuit elements, called metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors, or MOSFETs, not meet the radiation-hardness standards set for mission. Transistors serve as amplifiers or switches, turning power off & on parts of spacecraft. But like all electronics, they can be damaged by high-energy radiation particles. & Clipper, as it flies past Europa some 50 times during its planned life, will repeatedly face Jupiter’s radiation environment, one of the harshest ever navigated by a NASA mission.
Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), leads development of Clipper, discovered the problem in May after talking with colleagues about a classified satellite at a conference. They told the JPL staff a batch of radiation-hard MOSFETs developed by Infineon Technologies, a leading commercial supplier, was falling far below desired performance levels.
Concerns were passed along to NASA officials, 2 days ago briefed scientists on the agency’s independent planetary science panel. “We’re seeing some MOSFETs fail at lower radiation levels,” said Shannon Fitzpatrick, asso-director of planetary science flight programs, speaking on 9 July to NASA’s Planetary Science Advisory Committee (PSAC). “There is a risk these MOSFET transistors may not meet the radiation tolerance we require.” Radiation exposure has long been a central problem of exploring Jupiter & its moons. Jupiter’s magnetic field is (20,000 times stronger than Earth’s), and it spins rapidly, creating a torrent of bombarding charged particles. Europa mission, which will search the moon for evidence of habitable conditions in its subsurface ocean.
https://www.science.org/content/article/...er-mission
