A billion dollars was not wasted. The antenna on the device flying to Jupiter managed to be saved (video)

The antenna of one of the main instruments of the first European instrument to study Jupiter and its moons did not fully unfold shortly after the spacewalk in mid-April. Gizmodo writes that scientists took a massive three-week effort to finally get the 16-metre RIME radar antenna into place.

in 24News Breaker. Technology emerged telegraph channel. Subscribe so you don’t miss the latest and exciting news from the world of science!

The RIME radar antenna on the JUICE spacecraft was not deployed to its normal operating position shortly after launch, and this was, as previously written, the first serious problem the device encountered while flying to Jupiter and its moons. Focus. But now scientists have finally solved the problem and the 16-meter antenna is in the right position. This was reported by representatives of the European Space Agency, where scientists are building a new probe, the first European apparatus to study Jupiter and its moons.

This is a very important event because the RIME radar is essential for studying the surface and interior of Jupiter’s moons such as Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. The device will be able to scan satellites to a depth of 9km to determine whether oceans of liquid water exist and conditions for the development of extraterrestrial life. While JUICE won’t reach Jupiter until the summer of 2031, all of its instruments should be functioning normally by now for scientists to be sure the mission will succeed.

When the vehicle was unable to fully deploy its antenna in space, the engineers speculated that a small clip on the mounting bracket prevented the antenna from fully deploying. Such a problem threatened the success of the all-important mission, because in this case the radar would not be able to conduct a normal search of the satellites, even though the antenna was extended by about a third of its normal length.

Scientists on Earth first tried to remove the clip from the bracket by blasting the spacecraft’s thrusters as the light directed itself toward the Sun to heat the clip. This helped partially, but the antenna still wasn’t able to return to its full length.

But just a few days ago, engineers fired a mechanical device called a “non-explosive actuator” placed in a stuck bracket. As a result, a blow occurred that displaced the clamp, and the antenna was able to fully unfold in space.

This is a huge achievement, according to the European Space Agency, as more than $1 billion has been spent on the mission, and its success will lead astronomers to unlock the secrets of Jupiter’s three moons.

But not just them, because first JUICE will orbit the gas giant and explore the planet itself. In parallel, the device will make a series of close passes near the three satellites. The first part of the mission will continue until the end of 2034. Next, JUICE will orbit around another planet’s moon for the first time in space exploration history, specifically Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system, whose size is almost 2 times smaller than its size. of the earth.

As already written FocusThe South Korean orbiter met NASA’s orbiter near the Moon and took a unique photo of the latter.

As for the moons of Jupiter, now it already has 95 moons, but actually this is far from a record. As already written FocusScientists announced that they discovered new moons around Saturn, thus increasing their number to 145. No other planet, neither inside or outside the solar system, has discovered so many moons.