BUSAN, South Korea — The head of NASA’s science directorate says he remains optimistic that the Europa Clipper mission will launch on schedule in October despite concerns about the spacecraft’s electronics and launch vehicle.
The $5 billion mission is scheduled to lift off on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy during a three-week window starting on October 10. The spacecraft will enter orbit around Jupiter in 2030 and make dozens of close approaches to Europa, an icy moon that potentially has a habitable subsurface ocean.
NASA announced on July 11 that the mission is studying transistors on the spacecraft that may not have the level of radiation tolerance required for the mission, based on experience with similar components used elsewhere. Jupiter’s strong magnetic field creates high doses of radiation in the form of charged particles for spacecraft in its vicinity, including around Europa.
“Test data obtained so far indicate that some transistors are likely to fail in the high-radiation environment near Jupiter and its moon Europa, because the parts are not as resistant to radiation as expected,” the agency said. “The team is working to determine how sensitive the transistors can be and how they will work in flight. NASA is evaluating options to maximize the lifetime of the transistors in the Jupiter system.”
NASA has not released details on the options it has considered, other than a preliminary analysis will be completed by the end of July. Those options could include replacing the transistors, meaning the mission would miss the October launch window, according to industry sources.
Another complication comes from a Falcon 9 launch anomaly late on July 11, when the vehicle’s upper stage engine malfunctioned, causing the Starlink satellites’ payloads to be deployed in orbit too low for the spacecraft to survive. SpaceX grounded the rocket while it investigates the malfunction, which also affects the Falcon Heavy, which has a similar upper stage.
Despite those challenges, Nicky Fox, NASA’s associate administrator for science, said she remains optimistic about the prospects for launching the mission on schedule. “We will continue to manage the launch as long as possible, look at all the options and make a decision,” she said in an interview after speaking at the Committee on Space Exploration (COSPAR) 45.Thursday Scientific meeting here on July 16.
She added that there is no deadline for a decision to launch. “We will continue to march towards the October 10 launch window and at some point that decision will be made for us.”
“I’m always hopeful,” she said. “The team works so hard and is so motivated.
Mars Sample Return status
During her appearance at the COSPAR meeting, Fox also addressed the Mars Sample Return (MSR) program. NASA announced in April that it would seek new options for carrying out the mission in an effort to reduce its cost and schedule, and in June awarded study contracts to seven companies to look at alternatives, along with efforts by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Applied. NASA Physics Laboratory and Group Centers.
“We adapted. We realized we had a challenge,” she said of the MSR. She argued that it was limited to the “middle third” of the overall effort, which includes retrieving samples taken by the Perseverance rover and launching them into Mars orbit to collect them and will take the European Earth Return Orbiter (ERO) back to earth.
“They’re about a third of the way through the mission,” she said, referring to the samples Perseverance had already collected. “We did a big part of the mission and we did a very difficult part of the mission.
The last third of the mission, the return of the samples back to Earth, “is already planned,” she added. ESA continues to develop ERO and announced on July 5 that the spacecraft has completed its critical design review.
“Getting the second period is where we’re all focused,” Fox said. “I really welcome the challenge.
“We look at innovation. We look at thinking outside the box,” she added. “We’re also looking deep into the box: is there a simple thing we’ve missed?”
Neither NASA nor the organizations selected for the design studies have released many details about their plans, although several appear to focus on the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), a rocket that will launch a sample vessel into orbit around Mars.
In a separate presentation at COSPAR on July 15, Laurie Leshin, director of JPL, said her lab is looking at ways to adapt the “skycrane” landing system demonstrated on the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers missions for the MSR. Doing so, she said, requires reducing the weight of the sample retrieval lander and the MAV it carries, but if possible, she argued, it could significantly reduce the cost and complexity of the mission.