NASA’s Juno probe has been studying Jupiter for nine years, but its camera, JunoCam, has been struggling due to harsh conditions. To repair the faulty camera, NASA has repeatedly heated it up to fix defects. The first repair was done by heating the camera to 25 degrees Celsius, which solved the initial problems. However, when images showed streaks and noise before the close flyby of Jupiter’s moon Io, the temperature was increased further. Days later, image quality improved dramatically for the flyby.
The extreme conditions on Jupiter are damaging to electronics, and it was unknown how long the camera would last. The success of this repair technique has led to modifications being applied to other Juno instruments and technical subsystems. With 74 orbits around Jupiter, the probe continues to orbit the gas giant. Despite recent issues with noise in the images, NASA’s head of research, Scott Bolton, says the procedure will be applicable to commercial and military satellites.
Juno has revealed significant information about Jupiter’s magnetic field, which is stronger than expected, as well as its north and south poles, which differ significantly. The probe also explored Io’s volcanoes and contributed to the extended mission duration until September of this year.
Source: https://www.heise.de/en/news/Jupiter-probe-NASA-has-repaired-broken-JunoCam-several-times-by-heating-it-up-10496213.html