Excitation of whistler-mode waves and resonant electron scattering in the Jovian magnetosphere
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Standardizing the exchange of data through communications channels that connect spacecraft with their ground systems reduces costs. Efficient coding and packetization promote the automated, error-free transfer of data.
Galileo, the first artificial satellite of an outer planet, has been orbiting Jupiter since Dec 7, 1995. The spacecraft encounters one of the four Galilean satellites on each orbit.
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Lightning strikes to aerospace vehicles occur mainly in or near clouds. As the Galileo entry probe will pass most of its operational life in the clouds of Jupiter, which is known to have lightning activity, the present study is concerned with the risk of a lightning strike to the probe. A strike to the probe could cause physical damage to the structure and/or damage to the electronic equipment aboard the probe. It is thought to be possible, for instance, that the instrument failures which occurred on all four Pioneer Venus entry probes at an altitude of 12 km were due to an external electric discharge. The probability of a lightning strike to the Galileo probe is evaluated. It is found that the estimate of a strike to the probe is only 0.001, which is about the same as the expected failure rate due to other design factors. In the case of entry probes to cloud-covered planets, a consideration of measures for protecting the vehicle and its payload from lightning appears to be appropriate.
The Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) was successfully used to track the Galileo spacecraft on December 8, 1992, during the Galileo Earth-2 Flyby. This flyby enabled Galileo to obtain a gravity-assisted energy increase as part of the Venus-Earth-Earth trajectory en route to the planet Jupiter.
The Galileo probe will be subject to radiation fields and energetic particle bombardment during its outward bound journey and in orbit around Jupiter and its moons. To avoid the occurrence and propagation of effects of single event upset (SEU) bit state changes induced by the bombardments attempts were made to harden the Galileo electronics against SEUs. The hazards are especially acute for Schottky diode and low-power Schottky TTL parts. The preventive action options which were scheduled are reviewed, noting the selection of CMOS chips as replacements for SEU-susceptible devices. The simulation and risk assessment that were performed to evaluate the potential success of the replacements are summarized, with emphasis on the data employed to ensure the accuracy of the assessments and the predicted effects of SEUs in the various Galileo subsystems.
Galileo is a dual-spin spacecraft designed to deliver a probe to Jupiter and then orbit the planet. The stator, or despun section, contains four flexible modes below 10 Hz and the despun actuator is separated from the inertial sensors by this flexibility. Control loop separation by bandwidth proved unacceptable due to performance requirements. To obtain the desired performance, a control scheme was devised which consists of three parts. First, flexibility damping and control notch filtering are accomplished by phase locked loop techniques. Second, slewing maneuvers are produced by torque profiles which are nonexcitatory to the structure. Finally, a low bandwidth perturbation controller is supplied to remove spacecraft disturbances.
When an energetic particle (kinetic energy 0.5 MeV) originating from a radioactive decay or a cosmic ray transverse the active regions of semiconductor devices used in integrated circuit (IC) chips, it leaves along its track a high density electron hole plasma. The subsequent decay of this plasma by drift and diffusion leads to charge collection at the electrodes large enough in most cases to engender a false reading, hence the name single-event upset (SEU). The problem of SEU's is particularly severe within the harsh environment of Jupiter's radiation belts and constitutes therefore a matter of concern for the Galileo mission. The physics of an SEU event is analyzed in some detail. Owing to the predominance of nonlinear space charge effects and the fact that positive (holes) and negative (electrons) charges must be treated on an equal footing, analytical models for the ionized-charge collection and their corresponding currents as a function of time prove to be inadequate even in the simplest case of uniformly doped, abrupt p-n junctions in a one-dimensional geometry. The necessity for full-fledged computer simulation of the pertinent equations governing the electron-hole plasma therefore becomes imperative.
On December 8, 1990, the Galileo spacecraft used the Earth for a gravity assist on its way to Jupiter. Its trajectory was such that it crossed geosynchronous orbit at approximately local midnight between 1900 and 2000 UT. At the same time, spacecraft 1984-129 was also located at geosynchronous orbit near local midnight. Several flux dropout events were observed when the two spacecraft were in the near-Earth plasma sheet in the same local time sector. Flux dropout events are associated with plasma sheet thinning in the near-profile of the near-Earth plasma sheet while 1984-129 provided an azimuthal profile. With measurements from these two spacecraft we can distinguish between spatial structures and temporal change. Our observations confirm that the geosynchronous flux dropout events are consistent with plasma sheet thinning which changes the spacecraft's magnetic connection from the trapping region to the more distant plasma sheet. However, for this period, thinning occurred on two spatial and temporal scales. The geosynchronous dropouts were highly localized phenomena of 30 min duration superimposed on a more global reconfiguration of the tail lasting approximately 4 hours.
Several independent geological and geophysical investigations suggest that Europa and Ganymede contain subsurface oceans. Using Jupiter's rotating magnetic field as a primary signal, the magnetometer experiment onboard Galileo has measured secondary induction signals emanating from Europa, Ganymede, and surprisingly Callisto. The strong electromagnetic induction from these moons suggests that large global electrical conductors are located just below their icy crusts. A detailed analysis reveals that global salty oceans with salinity similar to the Earth's ocean and thicknesses in the range of approx. 6-100 kms can explain the induction observed by the Galileo magnetometer. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
It is now well recognized that microorganisms thrive in extreme ecological conditions such as geothermal vents, polar region, acid and alkaline lakes, and the cold pressurized depth of the ocean floor of this planet. Morphological, physiological, biochemical and genetic adaptations to extreme environments by these extremophile microorganisms have generated immense interest amongst astrobiologists who increasingly believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life. The evidence collected by NASA's space probe Galileo suggested the presence of liquid water and volcanic activity on Mars and Jupiter's satellite Europa. Volcanic activity provides some of the heat necessary to keep the water on Europa from freezing that could provide important dissolved chemicals needed by living organisms. The possibility of the existence of hypersaline alkaline lakes and evaporites confined within closed volcanic basins and impact craters on Mars, and a layer of liquid water under the ice on Europa provide sufficient 'raison d'etre' to study microorganisms in similar extreme environments on Earth, which could provide us with a model that would help establish the existence of extraterrestrial life on other planetary bodies. The objectives of the summer research project were as follows: (1) application of molecular approaches to help establish new species of extremophile microorganisms isolated from a hypersaline alkaline lake; and (2) identification of a major cold-shock gene (cspA) homolog from a psychrotolerant microorganism, PmagG1.
Deep-space missions some times use close gravity-assist 'swingbys' of planets and moons to gain or lose velocity. These maneuvers increase the amount of mass that can be delivered and/or decrease mission flight times. The two Voyager spacecraft used gravity assists to leave the solar system. The Galileo spacecraft is using gravity assists to move among the various moons of Jupiter and the Cassini spacecraft will do similar maneuvers around Saturn.
We have completed a new 1:15,000,000 global geologic map of Jupiter's volcanic moon, Io, based on a set of 1 km/pixel combined Galileo- Voyager mosaics produced by the U.S. Geological Survey. The map was produced over the last three years using ArcGIS(TM) software, and has undergone peer-review. Here we report some of the key results from our global mapping efforts, and how these results relate to questions regarding the volcano-tectonic evolution of Io.
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Two Galileo dynamic models were developed to simulate the spinup/400-N main engine burn/spindown maneuvers for the critical events of Jupiter Orbit Insertion (JOI) and Perijove Raise Maneuver (PRM). The dynamic interaction among the spin thruster pulsing frequency science/magnetometer (SCI/MAG) boom flexible modes, and the propellant slosh modes were studied.