Empa manufactures components for Jupiter probe

A laboratory at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) in Dübendorf in the canton of Zurichhas produced components for JUICE, Europe’s space probe for researching Jupiter’s moons. According to a press release, a mass spectrometer developed at the University of Bern is on board the space probe. This can measure the chemical composition of the outermost layer of the atmosphere of Jupiter and its moons.

Empa's Joining Technologies and Corrosion laboratory led by Hans Rudolf Elsener produced some components for this instrument, including the ‘reflectron’. The Empa researcher explains: “You can think of this as an electric mirror.” The ions that reach it are slowed down by an electric field and accelerated in the opposite direction. This enables measurements that are significantly more precise. The individual components of the reflectron were soldered together at Empa in a specially developed procedure. Soldering was performed in a special furnace under a high vacuum.

Elsener’s laboratory has been supplying various components for space probes for around 25 years in collaboration with the University of Bern. According to the press release, some European Space Agency (ESA) missions already have such components on board. Examples are the Rosetta comet probe, the BepiColombo Mercury probe, and the CHEOPS space telescope. The new component had already been developed by Empa in 2019 and was then installed during the slow construction process for the Jupiter probe.

After launching in French Guiana on April 13, ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission will not reach Jupiter’s orbit until summer 2031. It plans to investigate the planet itself as well as three of its icy moons: Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa. gba