A mission to Europa has been identified as a high priority by the science community for several years. The difficulty of an orbital mission---due primarily to the propulsive requirements and Jupiter's trapped radiation---led to many studies that investigated various approaches to meeting the science goals. The Europa Orbiter Mission studied in the late 1990s only met the most fundamental science objectives. The science objectives have evolved with the discoveries from the Galileo mission. JPL studied one concept---Europa Explorer---for a Europa orbiting mission that could meet a much-expanded set of science objectives. A study science group was formed to verify that the science objectives and goals were being adequately met by the resulting mission design concept. The Europa Explorer design emerged primarily from two key self-imposed constraints: 1) Meet the full set of identified non-lander science objectives. 2) Use only existing technology. Though other design concepts are viable for alternate program constraint sets, this paper will only discuss the results of this concept study. The Europa Explorer conducts a multi-year study of the Jupiter system, relies on existing technologies, and returns considerably more science data than previously examined conventional-propulsion mission concepts. In this mission concept, a single orbiter would traverse to Jupiter by means of a gravity assist trajectory and reach Jupiter ~6 years after launch, followed by an ~1¿ year tour of the Galilean satellites, before entering Europa orbit. The Europa Prime Mission would be 90 days, with the expectation of being operational for upwards of a year.
Europa Explorer---An Exceptional Mission Using Existing Technology
2007-03-01
1293515 byte
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
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