NASA is attempting another exploration to Jupiter by launching an armored tank to its orbit. Since 1973 when Pioneer 10 has arrived to Jupiter, NASA is conducting several space expeditions to observe Jupiter’s environment. The Galileo spacecraft is the only one to have actually entered an orbit around Jupiter. Sending a vessel to Jupiter involves many technical difficulties. One major problem is that there’s no solid surface on which to land, and another problem is the planet’s huge amount of radiation.
The armored-tank spacecraft named Juno will be sent to Jupiter’s polar orbit to study its system and unveil the planet’s mysteries. Specifically NASA is trying to determine how much water is in Jupiter’s atmosphere. They also want to measure Jupiter’s atmosphere composition, temperature, cloud motions and other properties. They want to map Jupiter’s magnetic and gravity fields and to explore and study Jupiter’s magnetosphere, providing new insights on how the planet’s huge magnetic force field is affecting its atmosphere.
It is said that the environment Juno will be facing has more radiation than any other place NASA has ever sent a spacecraft except for the Sun. There’s an invisible force field filled with high-energy particles surrounding Jupiter and its moons. This magnetic force field is caused by Jupiter’s magnetosphere, the largest and most powerful of any planetary magnetosphere in the solar system. The action of the magnetosphere traps and accelerates particles, producing intense belts of radiation. The radiation belts of Jupiter are shaped like a huge doughnut around the planet’s equatorial region extend out past its moon Europa, and about 650,000 kilometers out from the top of Jupiter’s clouds.
How will Juno survive all that radiation? Here’s their plan, they designed and built a special radiation vault made of titanium to protect Juno’s brain and heart, the command and data handling box (its brain) and power and data distribution unit (its heart), and about 20 other electronic assemblies. The whole vault weighs about 200 kilograms. The vault is not designed to block all particles hitting the system, but it can dramatically slow down the aging effect, radiation has on its electronics for the duration of the mission. Juno isn’t relying exclusively on the radiation vault. Scientists designed a path to Jupiter that minimizes the exposure of Juno from harsh radiation belts.
Once the whole spacecraft is put together it will undergo further testing. The assembly and testing process, which includes installing of solar panels, is expected to last until May next year. The spacecraft is due to launch in August 2011 and has a 5-year cruise, arriving at July 2016.
You might also like
 |
 |
 |
 |
Loading ...