NASA’s Juno spacecraft, in orbit around Jupiter, had a huge problem when its JunoCam imager started to fail after sitting through the planet’s harsh radiation belts for so many orbits. Designed to only last through the initial few orbits, JunoCam astonishingly endured 34 orbits. Yet by the 47th orbit, the effects of radiation damage became visible, and by the 56th orbit, images were almost illegible. With few alternatives and time slipping away before a close flyby of Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io, engineers made a daring but creative gamble. Employing an annealing process, they sought to resuscitate the imager by warming it up—an experiment that proved successful.

Long-distance fix

According to NASA, JunoCam’s camera resides outside the spacecraft’s radiation-shielded interior and is extremely vulnerable. After several orbits, it started developing damage thought to be caused by a failing voltage regulator. From a distance of hundreds of millions of miles, the mission team implemented a last-ditch repair: annealing. The technique, which subjects materials to heat in order to heal microscopic defects, is poorly understood but has been succeeding in the lab. By heating the camera to 77°F, scientists wished to reorient its silicon-based parts.

At first, efforts were for naught, but only days before the December 2023 flyby of Io, the camera unexpectedly recovered—restoring close-to-original image quality just in time to photograph previously unseen volcanic landscapes.

Radiation Lessons for the Future

Though the camera showed renewed degradation during Juno’s 74th orbit, the successful restoration has led to broader applications. The team has since applied similar annealing strategies to other Juno instruments, helping them withstand harsh conditions longer. Juno’s findings are now informing spacecraft design across the board. “We’re learning how to build radiation-tolerant systems that benefit both defense and commercial satellites,” said Juno’s principal investigator Scott Bolton. These findings would inform future missions, such as those visiting outer planets or working in high-radiation environments near Earth, in the Van Allen belts. Juno’s mission continues to pay dividends with unexpected innovations—a lesson in how a small amount of heat can do wonders.

With the increase in global rocket launches, scientists are reporting concerns about their impact on the ozone layer, our planet’s natural shield against harmful UV radiation. The research team, which includes Sandro Vattioni and other scientists, put emphasis on the environmental risks that can increase with the rocket emissions are still now underestimated. However, it can be addressed with proactive and coordinated efforts. With a boom in the commercial space industry, there comes opportunity; however, with this comes a lot of threat to the environment by causing ozone layer depletion during the launch and re-entry of the spacecrafts.

Rocket Emissions Pose a Growing Threat to the Ozone Layer

As per Phys org, Rockets release pollutants as soot and chlorine into the atmosphere’s middle and upper parts. These particles remain for longer than the ground ones and catalyse the chemical reactions that damage the ozone layer. The re-entry of the satellite releases metal particles and nitrogen oxides, which in turn do more damage. The current models don’t usually account for the effects through re-entry, making it an overall cost to the environment, which is higher than the estimated one.

Research has been conducted through the climatic simulations show that if rocket launches increase to 2,040 yearly by the end of 2030. The global thickness of the ozone layer is yet healing from the previous damage caused by CFCs, which re now banned, however, full recovery will still not be achieved even after 40 years. The unchecked emissions might be a cause to the recovery delay.
Global Cooperation Needed to Protect Earth’s Atmospheric Shield

Rocket fuel selection is significant, as the majority of rockets utilise propellants that have soot and chlorine, which are depleting the ozone layer. A small percentage utilised cryogenic fuels like hydrogen and oxygen as liquids, which are thought to have less of an effect on the ozone layer; however, it is difficult to handle.

For protecting the ozone layer, the space industry may have transitioned to cleaner fuels, check emissions and stick to the strict guidelines. The Montreal Protocol has helped us phase out CFCs, where worldwide collaboration is needed to save the atmosphere of Earth, with the advancement in space exploration.

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