The Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter Mission: a challenging search for life

Summary form only given. The continued exploration of the Solar System for signs of life leads us back to Jupiter. The Galileo Mission, its precursor space missions and ground observations have led many scientists to agree that the icy moons of Jupiter may harbor the right environment for life. The Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) Project, an element of the Project Prometheus Program, is being pursued as a possible way to further investigate Ganymede, Callisto and Europa up close and personal. Many technologies are currently being identified and developed by NASA and Industry in support of this very challenging mission. The JIMO mission requires electronics which can survive a severe radiation environment and lifetimes of up to 20 years. State-of-the-art electronics vary in radiation tolerance from a few kilorads to well over 1 Megarad. Less radiation tolerant designs requires more shielding mass which means less mass available for enhancing scientific return. In this talk, the multi-pronged, systems approach to solving the radiation and lifetimes issues planned for the JIMO mission are discussed.