The Europa Clipper mission might be postponed for quite some time while NASA studies the transistors’ longevity on the $5 billion spacecraft.
Due to the malfunctioning machinery, the spacecraft may not be able to complete its scientific mission of determining whether life exists on Europa.
Computer chips and other devices rely on transistors—electric switches—to function. The question is whether these transistors can withstand the intense radiation from the Jovian system. Every spacecraft needs radiation shielding because of the constant barrage of radiation in space from sources like solar flares and cosmic rays. Jovian radiation belt conditions can be up to fifty times more radioactive than Earth’s, a particularly hazardous area of space that Europa circles inside.
Spacecraft engineers are concerned with two forms of radiation doses: total ionizing dose, which accumulates over time, and flux dose, or spikes in radiation.
Spacecraft designers can protect vulnerable areas by enclosing them in shielding, creating “radiation vaults” to store critical technology, or employing radiation-hardened components like the chips that are currently under scrutiny. Critical, radiation-resistant chips were found to have failed testing at radiation levels “significantly lower” than expected on May 3, according to engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who a non-NASA client had informed.
Infineon Technologies is a German semiconductor company that makes the chips used by Europa Clipper and military spacecraft. The radiation from Jupiter has been a problem for every mission that has gone there. To reduce exposure, the spacecraft will fly around Jupiter, buzzing the moon at various angles and distances (up to 15 miles) every few weeks.
NASA leadership may need to reevaluate the project’s strategy or alter the launch date if engineers cannot verify that the spacecraft can survive the mission in its current configuration.
With more time on their hands, engineers at the Jet Propulsion Lab might figure out how to save some of the mission’s scientific data by taking alternate routes that would avoid the most dangerous radiation in the area.
