The operators of the spacecraft fear however that it will be damaged due to the enormous radiation near Io but are willing to risk sacrificing the spacecraft for the chance to get good pictures of the volcanoes
By Avi Blizovsky
The Galileo spacecraft, which is on a 4-year journey through the Jupiter system and its moons, is scheduled to meet on October 11 with the moon Io, which is the most volcanic body in the entire solar system. Galileo will approach as high as 612 kilometers above Io's hot surface at 1.06:7 am (06:XNUMX am Israel time because there is still daylight saving time on the east coast), and the instruments on board will take the closest images of Io to date.
"Io is a natural laboratory for volcanic activity," says Dr. Doan
Bindschadler manages the planning of the scientific markers
In the Galileo project. By studying an island closely, we can learn
When and how volcanoes erupt and why they act the way they do
working This will help to understand the eruptions of volcanoes on Earth."
saying.
During the upcoming flight, the scientists will decipher using the instruments
Data about the chemistry of Io, the heat distribution there, the gravity
and the magnetic fields of the fair moon. As mentioned, this is in addition to the photos
in visible light and other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
This will be a treasure for the scientists and yet for the approaching engineers
This will be a big challenge due to the danger arising from the radiation belt of
Tzedek (which he does not reside in), and which the strong radiation can damage
in the spacecraft's performance and even paralyze some of its instruments. Anyway, too
A small percentage of the radiation they will be willing to allow into the spacecraft is radiation
enough to kill people if they were there.
"We expect the spacecraft to survive this approach, though
The radiation can paralyze the computers or possibly even cause damage
irreversible to critical electronic components," says Wayne Siebel,
Wayne Sible, Deputy Director of the Galileo Project. There is also a possibility that if
The spaceship will catch too strong radiation
She won't even survive the passage near an island. Because of the possibility
This time, we planned the approach to Io towards the end of the two years of the extension
The project (the project was supposed to end in December 1997, but
It was extended by two years and the spacecraft explored Jupiter's moons in them - mainly
Europe). After orbiting Jupiter for nearly four years,
The spacecraft more than met the mission's goals, so that seems plausible
Let's take a calculated risk and take a closer look at the goal it has
A wealth of scientific data.
To prepare for possible damage during the approach, the engineers programmed
Sophisticated software to help the spaceship get out of the crisis on its own and leave
Out of the island area, as soon as she feels a slight change in one action
or more than her devices. Due to the distance to Jupiter, it is not possible to navigate the
The spaceship is in real time, and therefore it is necessary to provide it with some intelligence
Self.
Galileo is the first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter in an orderly manner
For a long time (Pioneer Voyager spacecraft in the seventies
And the XNUMXs only passed by Jupiter and perhaps circled it once). since
It provided thousands of color images of Jupiter and its moons, for example
confirmed the existence of a liquid ocean under the ice block on the moon
Europe - an essential element in the possibility of life there. Thanks for the info
Sent by Galileo, today scientists know a lot of data about temperament
The air on Jupiter and the composition of its moons. On the way to Jupiter, the spacecraft managed to take pictures
Close up of the asteroids Gaspara and Ida, and photographed the destruction
Caused by fragments of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 that crashed into Jupiter in 1994
These achievements are worthy of mention because on her way to justice there was a mishap
In the main antenna that transmits the data to Earth, and so it is
can transfer only one thousand bits per second instead of 134 thousand as planned,
This slows down the possibility of research using the spacecraft.
If all goes well, the scientists are planning an even bolder operation
On November 26 - another approach to Io, and this time to a height of 300
kilometers.
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