PROBE
Congratulations, you have been chosen as the Probe officer for this important mission. Your job is to prepare, test and launch the probe impactor that will burrow into the surface of Europa. This probe is the most mission critical component for the success of the mission, as without it we cannot learn what is under Europa’s ice sheets! You will be communicating with the Remote (REM) team to successfully launch the probe.
Your objectives for this mission are:
- Decide if the probe is safe for launch, and
- Determine future impact sites for the probe
You will need to follow every step in these TASK CARDS, without skipping a single step. Do not begin the first step until told to do so by the Mission Commander.
If you need assistance at any point during the mission, send a message to “Help Desk” in the call software CHAT. They are there to answer your questions and provide help for the duration of the mission.
SYSTEMS CHECK
Follow these directions for performing a SYSTEMS CHECK:
1. Read the notes from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory by clicking on the box labeled NOTES.
NOTES
The Europa Probe was pre-built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory three months before the astronaut crew left Earth to travel to Jupiter. It has been safely stored for the past six years in the spacecraft for its eventual launch towards Europa.
Before the probe is launched, you must perform a SYSTEMS CHECK to ensure no damage has occurred to the Probe during transit. Below this box, there will be a box labeled SYSTEM STATUS, which will display the status of the Probe and all the parts it has installed.
Below SYSTEMS STATUS there is a SYSTEMS CHECK DATA LOG. In this SYSTEMS CHECK DATA LOG, you will be checking if the parts are READY or NOT WORKING. If they are NOT WORKING, they will need a replacement part!
2. Locate the CHAT in your call software.
3. Select “COM” from the drop-down menu.
4. Type the following message:
This is the Probe officer. We will begin the systems check of the Probe.
5. Once you have typed it in the CHAT, make sure to hit SEND or hit ENTER so that the COM officer can read it and deliver it to the Mission Commander.
6. Click on SYSTEM STATUS to view the current status of the Probe and all its attached parts.
SYSTEM STATUS
Probe Parts List
Transmitter 1 – READY
Transmitter 2 – READY
Receiver 1 – READY
Receiver 2 – NOT WORKING
Navigation Computer – READY
Guidance Software – NOT WORKING
Battery Pack 1 – READY
Battery Pack 2 – READY
Gyroscope X- READY
Gyroscope Y – NOT WORKING
Gyroscope Z – NOT WORKING
Europa Imaging System- READY
Europa Surface Radiometer – READY
7. Next to each part, it will display its status. All parts should be listed as READY. If a part is listed as NOT WORKING, mark it as NOT WORKING in your SYSTEMS CHECK DATA LOG.
8. Open the SYSTEMS CHECK DATA LOG.
SYSTEMS CHECK DATA LOG
OPEN DATA LOG
SYSTEMS CHECK
1. Locate the CHAT in your call software.
2. Select “COM” from the drop-down menu.
3a. If any parts are NOT WORKING, type the following message in the CHAT:
This is the Probe officer. We have performed a systems check and have found that the Probe is NOT ready for launch.
— Or —
3b. If all parts are READY, type the following message in the CHAT:
This is the Probe officer. We have performed a systems check and have found that the Probe is ready for launch.
4. Once you have typed it in the CHAT, make sure to hit SEND or hit ENTER so that the COM officer can read it and deliver it to the Mission Commander.
5. Return to the SYSTEMS CHECK DATA LOG and click “Submit”.
6. Once this is completed, if the Probe is NOT ready to launch, scroll down to the section labeled “PROBE ASSEMBLY UPDATE”. If the Probe is ready to launch, scroll down to the section labeled “PROBE LAUNCH” and follow those steps.
PROBE ASSEMBLY UPDATE
Follow these directions for assembling and replacing parts listed as NOT WORKING in the Probe:
- Read the notes from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory by clicking on the box labeled NOTES.
NOTES
The Europa probe is made up of various different components. Each component is responsible for a specific job:
– The Transmitters and Receivers allow it to send data it collects back to us.
– The Navigation Computer tracks the location of the probe in space.
– The Guidance Software controls the thrusters of the probe.
– The Battery Packs allow the probe to receive power.
– Three Gyroscopes are necessary to keep the Probe correctly positioned after launch in its journey to the ice sheet.
– The Europa Imaging System is a system of cameras that collect images of the moon and its underground ocean.
– The Europa Surface Radiometer measures the radioactivity at various layers of depth under Europa.
Use the PROBE ASSEMBLY DATA LOG to instruct the Mission Controller which parts need to be replaced.
2. Scroll down to the PROBE ASSEMBLY UPDATE DATA LOG and answer the questions.
PROBE ASSEMBLY DATA LOG
OPEN DATA LOG
Notepad
PROBE ASSEMBLY UPDATE
3. After completing the PROBE ASSEMBLY UPDATE DATA LOG, locate the CHAT in your call software.
4. Select “COM” from the drop-down menu.
5. Type the following message:
This is the Probe officer. Please replace the following Probe parts: _______________.
6. Once you have typed it in the CHAT, make sure to hit SEND or hit ENTER so that the COM officer can read it and deliver it to the Mission Commander.
7. Scroll up to the SYSTEMS CHECK DATA LOG. Click “Submit another response” and mark all the probe parts as ready.
8. Confirm that the Mission Commander has replaced the parts by listening to the messages from the Commander. Update the PROBE SYSTEMS CHECK DATA LOG below and mark the replaced parts as READY.
PROBE LAUNCH
9. Locate the CHAT in your call software.
10. Select “COM” from the drop-down menu.
11. Type the following message:
Attention all Stations. This is the Probe officer. We have performed a systems check and have found that the Probe is ready for launch. REM officer send the PROBE LAUNCH CODE ASAP.
12. Once you have typed it in the CHAT, make sure to hit SEND or hit ENTER so that the COM officer can read it and deliver it to the Mission Commander.
13. When the REM officer sends the PROBE LAUNCH CODE, click on the PROBE LAUNCH DATA LOG. Enter the PROBE LAUNCH CODE and click “Submit”.
PROBE LAUNCH CODE DATA LOG
OPEN DATA LOG
PROBE LAUNCH
1. Wait until the Mission Commander has launched the Probe. If after two minutes, the Mission Commander has not launched the Probe, locate the CHAT in your call software.
2. Select “COM” from the drop-down menu.
3. Type the following message.
This is the Probe officer. The Probe is ready for launch.
4. Once you have typed it in the CHAT, make sure to hit SEND or hit ENTER so that the COM officer can read it and deliver it to the Mission Commander.
5. Standby for probe launch. Observe your monitor.
Do not continue until Probe data is received.
FUTURE IMPACT SITE SELECTION
1. After the Probe has been launched, you’ll need to conduct research to decide the next impact site for the Probe to gather additional data. In order to understand the the features of the sites you will choose from, read the research collected by clicking on the box labeled SURFACE FEATURES.
SURFACE FEATURES
The surface of Europa appears to be very fresh and young by geological standards, less than 100 million years old. Because of tidal heating, Europa could have active venting of water vapor. Europa also has a fractured appearance resulting from flexing of the moon’s surface as it circles Jupiter on its oval-shaped orbit. The fractures open, close, and slide past each other with each orbit where the stress from the flexing is the highest. In the past, the surface appears to have pulled open along some cracks and ridges, allowing huge tracts of warmer icy material to well up into the new gap and creating banded patterns. Other features called “chaos” probably formed as slightly warmer blobs of ice and/or water migrated upward within the ice shell, eventually breaking apart the surface. Chaos features typically appear as regions that are reddish non-ice material along cracks and within areas where the surface has been deformed.
If we are trying to get the probe to Europa’s water ocean as easily as possible, consider how these features may ease the journey for the probe as the newer features represent areas on Europa’s surface that are stretched and pulled apart to allow new material to come up from the ocean underneath.
2. Go to the FUTURE IMPACT SITE SELECTION DATA LOG
FUTURE IMPACT SITE SELECTION DATA LOG
OPEN DATA LOG
FUTURE IMPACT SITE SELECTION
1. Locate the CHAT in your call software.
2. Select “COM” from the drop-down menu.
3. Type the following message.
This is the Probe officer. The Probe team has decided the future impact site will be ____________.
4. Once you have typed it in the chat, hit SEND or hit ENTER to deliver the message to the COM officer.
5. Click “Submit” on the FUTURE IMPACT SITE SELECTION DATA LOG.
FUTURE MISSION PROBE ASSEMBLY
1. Read the notes from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory by clicking on the box labeled NOTES.
NOTES
The Europa probe is made up of various different components. In some cases, it is necessary to have more than one of a particular part. This is particularly true of the Gyroscopes, battery packs, receivers and transmitters. In the case of the battery packs, receivers and transmitters, since at least one is CRITICAL for the mission to continue, it is important that there is a backup. In the case of the gyroscopes, it is necessary to have three different gyroscopes to keep the Probe correctly positioned after it launch during its journey to its destination.
GYROSCOPES –
Gyroscopes are everywhere in our modern world. You’ll find them in airplanes, space stations, satellites, probes and anything that spins. A gyroscope is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. Gyroscopes, in their most basic form, are a spinning wheel/disk on an axle. In space, we need to orient the spacecraft in three positions – the x axis, y axis and z axis -( pitch, roll and yaw) so that the spacecraft can travel in the right direction or in the case of a satellite, point itself in the proper direction. This is why we need an X, Y and Z gyroscope so that we are able to have the spacecraft in the correct attitude.
A gyroscope or a Gyro sensor is present in your smartphone to sense angular rotational velocity and acceleration. Simply put, all those mobile games you are able to play using motion sense in your phones, tablets, etc, is due to a Gyroscope Sense.
FUTURE PROBE ASSEMBLY DATA LOG
OPEN DATA LOG
1. Locate the CHAT in your call software.
2. Select “Flight Director” from the drop-down menu.
3. Type the following message:
This is the Probe officer. I have completed all my tasks.
4. Once you have typed it in the CHAT, make sure to hit SEND or ENTER.
5. Wait quietly for any further instructions.