SMARA (spacecraft)

SMARA (SMAll Reconnaissance of Atmospheres) is a proposed mission concept to the planet Jupiter. The mission would involve a swarm of tiny probes each weighing less than 1 kilogram which would zip through the clouds of Jupiter by 2030, in conjunction with the ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer mission, beaming home data about the gas giant's dense atmosphere. According to estimates, a probe can survive for up to 15 minutes in the atmosphere of Jupiter and transmit enough information to give scientists a greater understanding of that atmosphere.[1] They will each transmit 20 megabits of data in total.[2] The mission is named after the wind borne fruit released by maple trees.[3]

  1. ^ Brabaw, Kasandra (February 18, 2015). "Tiny Microprobes Could Explore Jupiter's Atmosphere By 2030". Space.com. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  2. ^ Pop, Sebastian (January 27, 2015). "A Swarm of Microprobes Preparing for Launch to Jupiter". Softpedia News.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).