ESA's JUICE Probe Encounters Antenna Issue on Journey to Jupiter
TL;DR Summary
The European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) spacecraft, launched on April 14th, has hit a snag with its 16-meter radar antenna, which has only extended to roughly 1/3rd its total length. The going theory is that one of the release pins has gotten stuck somewhere, preventing the antenna from moving any further. Engineers are exploring options to shake the craft or move the antenna mount in and out of sunlight to free things up. Even if the antenna cannot be fixed, the mission will still provide a wealth of information about Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa.
- ESA's Jupiter-bound Probe Hits Antenna Snag Hackaday
- ESA troubleshooting JUICE radar antenna SpaceNews
- JUICE Hits A Snag On Its Way To Jupiter – But The Team Has Solutions IFLScience
- ESA Begins Deploying Jupiter Probe's Instruments, Discovers One Is Stuck ExtremeTech
- Jupiter explorer hits first snag as agency considers “shaking” spacecraft Cosmos
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