Mon, Apr 09, 2018
Will Design Spacecraft Components For 'Europa Clipper'
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has chosen SSL, a Maxar Technologies company to design and build critical equipment for a spacecraft that will explore Europa, one of Jupiter's moons. The award reflects SSL's leadership role in the space industry as a valued contractor supporting NASA mission needs and long-term commitment to accelerating innovation for the new space economy.
The Europa Clipper spacecraft, set to launch in the 2020's, will perform repeated investigative flybys of Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter, which strong evidence suggests has an ocean of liquid water beneath its crust, potentially harboring conditions suitable for life. SSL will provide the Remote Engineering Unit, a critical interface between the spacecraft's various attitude control systems, thermal sensors and the flight computer. Due to the highly radiative environment the spacecraft will be subjected to, the SSL design for the interface will include innovative radiation-tolerant components expected to help power future exploration missions.
"SSL has a rich legacy of supporting NASA mission success with our commercial capabilities and innovative technologies," said Richard White, president of SSL Government Systems. "Our work on the Europa Clipper mission continues our legacy with NASA and JPL, and furthers our overarching goal to develop disruptive technologies that advance humankind's mission in space."
Other examples of SSL's long-term, trusted collaboration with NASA on deep-space exploration include a NASA Discovery Program to explore the metal asteroid Psyche, for which SSL is leveraging the company's expertise in solar electric propulsion and automation technologies. SSL is also collaborating on NASA's Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway by creating a module to provide power and control for this human crew-tended spaceport in lunar orbit that would function as an access point to the Moon and deep space.
(Image provided with Maxar Technologies news release)
More News
Very High Frequency The frequency band between 30 and 300 MHz. Portions of this band, 108 to 118 MHz, are used for certain NAVAIDs; 118 to 136 MHz are used for civil air/ground voi>[...]
Aero Linx: Aviation Suppliers Association Established February 25, 1993, the Aviation Suppliers Association (ASA), based in Washington, D.C., is a not-for-profit association, repre>[...]
Have A Story That NEEDS To Be Featured On Aero-News? Here’s How To Submit A Story To Our Team Some of the greatest new stories ANN has ever covered have been submitted by our>[...]
From 2021 (YouTube Version): Colorado Campus Offers aVariety Of Aerospace Entertainment And Education Wings over the Rockies Exploration of Flight is the second location for the Wi>[...]
Also: Paramotor Champ's, Electric Ultralight, ICON BK Update, Burt Rutan at Oshkosh! The Popular Rotorcraft Association is reaching out for help in rebuilding their private runway >[...]