Speaker
Description
JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer) spacecraft will provide a thorough investigation of the Jupiter system in all its complexity with emphasis on the three potentially ocean-bearing Galilean satellites, Ganymede, Europa and Callisto, and their potential habitability.
The JUICE spacecraft will carry the most powerful remote sensing, geophysical, and in situ payload complement ever flown to the outer Solar System. The payload consists of 10 state-of-the-art instruments.
The main design drivers of JUICE mission are the very harsh radiation in Jupiter environment, leading to shield individually or collectively all the sensitive components, the stringent Electro-Magnetic Compatibility (EMC) requirements to fulfil the magnetic and electrical fields’ measurement objectives and the low solar illumination received at Jupiter. This latter parameter drives both the size and technology of the solar arrays, and the thermal control, that is designed to cope with hot and cold environments. JUICE spacecraft thermal control has to cope with a large variation of external environment during the mission (Sun flux from 3323 W/m² in the inner Solar System down to 46 W/m² in Jovian environment) and long eclipses of up to 4.8 hours.
The JUICE thermal control is designed with the objective to minimize the impact of the external environment on the spacecraft through high efficiency Multi-Layer Insulation. Minimizing heating power demand especially during science and communication phases and minimizing hardware mass is a constant concern and solutions are found to build to a maximum extent a robust and passive design supplemented by heaters.
The verification of the Spacecraft thermal control included the test of a scale 1:1 Thermal Development Model in cold and hot environment, including the use of a Solar Simulator in May 2018. The presentation will also present the preparation of the Flight Model thermal vacuum test, foreseen beginning of 2021.
