| Flyby of Io with Repeat Encounters | |||||||||
| Names List: | FIRE | ||||||||
| Mission Type: | Reconnaissance | ||||||||
| Operator: | NASA/JPL | ||||||||
| Mission Duration: | cruise: 6 years science phase: 4 months (proposed) | ||||||||
| Launch Date: | 2024 (proposed) | ||||||||
| Launch Rocket: | Atlas V | ||||||||
| Interplanetary: |
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FIRE (Flyby of Io with Repeat Encounters) is a concept mission to Jupiter's innermost major moon Io. The mission was first presented in 2012[1] for a possible future consideration by NASA's New Frontiers program.[2]
If developed in the future, the FIRE spacecraft would use three gravity assists to reach Jupiter six years later.[2] The spacecraft would orbit Jupiter and perform 10 flybys of Io, some as low as 100km (100miles) from its surface.[2] [3] The ten flybys would be completed in approximately four months.[3]
As a New Frontiers class mission, the cost cap would be $991 million (FY2012) with a $927 million base cap with a $64 million launch vehicle cost credit.[3]
The instrument suite includes four proposed instruments: [1] [2]
Electric power to the spacecraft and its scientific payload would be generated by three Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generators (ASRG).[2] [3] ASRG is a radioisotope power system under development at NASA's Glenn Research Center. It uses a Stirling power conversion technology to convert radioactive-decay heat into electricity for use on spacecraft.