Juno Radiation Vault

Juno Radiation Vault is a compartment inside the Juno spacecraft that houses much of the probe's electronics and computers, and is intended to offer increased protection of radiation to the contents as the spacecraft endures the radiation environment at planet Jupiter. The Juno Radiation Vault is roughly a cube, with walls made of 1 cm thick (1/3 of an inch) titanium metal, and each side having an area of about a square meter (10 square feet). The vault weighs about 18 kg and with its contents about 200 kg (500 lbs). Inside the vault are the main command and data handling and power control boxes, along with 20 other electronic boxes. The vault should reduce the radiation exposure by about 800 times, as the spacecraft is exposed to an anticipated 20 million rads of radiation It does not stop all radiation, but significantly reduces to extend the life and reduce damage on the units for the expected life of the mission.

The vault has been compared being like "armor" or like a "tank", and the electronics within, like the spacecraft's "brain". The power systems have been described as a "heart".

Without its protective shield, or radiation vault, Juno’s brain would get fried on the very first pass near Jupiter

The vault is one many features of the mission to help counter the high radiation levels near Jupiter, including an orbit that reduces time spent in the highest radiation regions, radiation-hardened electronics, and additional shielding on components. The wires that lead out from the vault also have increased protection, they have a sheath of braided copper and stainless steel. Some other components used tantalum metal for shielding in Juno, and while lead is known for its shielding effect it was found to be too soft in this application. One reason that titanium was chosen over lead in this application was because titanium was better at handling launch stresses.

The Ganymede orbiter proposal also included a design for a Juno-like radiation vault. However, because the radiation is less at Jupiter's moon Ganymede and the orbiter's path, the vault would not have to be as thick, all else being similar. One reason the radiation is strong at Jupiter, but confined to certain belts, is because it is generated by ions and electrons trapped in areas as a result of Jupiter's magnetic field. Jupiter's magnetosphere is about 20,000 times as strong as Earth's and is one of the items of study by Juno. (see also Juno's Magnetometer(MAG) instrument)

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