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SUDA

SUDA

Europa SUrface Dust Analyzer

The Europa Surface Dust Analyzer is a LASP-built instrument that will be part of NASA's Flagship Europa Clipper mission. Measuring the composition of cosmic dust provides unique insight into the physical and chemical conditions at its origin. SUDA will detect a wide variety of compounds in the dust environment around Europa and connect them to their origin on the surface. This allows simultaneous compositional mapping of many organic and inorganic components, including both major and trace compounds, with a single instrument.

Science Target:

Jupiter

Science Focus:

Galilean Moons, Interstellar Dust, Planetary Dust

Instrument Type:

In situ: Particles

Instrument Site:

https://europa.nasa.gov/spacecraft/instruments/suda/
The gold colored SUDA sensor head is shown resting on a table in a clean room, seen in the center left of this image. The cover to the senor head is closed, and to the right a small, silver electronics box is visible. Combined, the pieces make up the entire SUDA instrument. The background space in the clean room is lit up purple.

Image Gallery

The gold colored SUDA sensor head is shown resting on a table in a clean room, seen in the center left of this image. The cover to the senor head is closed, and to the right a small, silver electronics box is visible. Combined, the pieces make up the entire SUDA instrument.

Europa Clipper’s dust analyzer shown in a clean room. Credit: NASA/CU Boulder/Glenn Asakawa

An engineer in white full body coveralls, a mask, and light blue gloves is shown attaching a wire to the SUDA sensor head. Only the top of the sensor head is visible, and is seen on the lower right portion of the image. The sensor head is gold in color. In the distance, engineers work on other components in the clean room.

An engineer makes an electrical connection to the sensor head for Europa Clipper’s dust analyzer. Credit: NASA/CU Boulder/Glenn Asakawa

The gold colored SUDA sensor head is shown resting on a table in a clean room, seen in the center of this image. The cover to the image is shown open in the image, allowing you to see a mesh screen inside the sensor head. A purple light is seen reflecting off part of the sensor head and the table it rests on.

Europa Clipper’s dust analyzer shown in a clean room. Credit: NASA/CU Boulder/glenn Asakawa

The instrument sensor head is shown in the middle of the image as a large metallic device, gold in color, with wiring attached. The sensor is resting on a table in a cleanroom. There are no people visible in the image. Multi-layer insulation is visible on the top and underneath the instrument. On the side of the instrument is a panel with information etched in, including “SUDA SENSOR HEAD”, “LASP” (which refers to the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics), and the mascot symbol for the University of Boulder, which is a buffalo.

The instrument sensor head for Europa Clipper’s dust analyzer is seen in a clean room during the installation of multi-layer insulation prior to thermal balancing testing. Credit: NASA/LASP/CU Boulder

Mechanical assembler Marc Miller reaches into the vacuum chamber to close SUDA’s aperture door. The door is held closed by a pin-pull mechanism that must be manually reset. Credit: NASA/CU Boulder/Glenn Asakawa

Mechanical assembler Marc Miller reaches into the vacuum chamber to close SUDA’s aperture door. The door is held closed by a pin-pull mechanism that must be manually reset. Credit: NASA/CU Boulder/Glenn Asakawa

SUDA Team Photo

Many of the engineers, scientists, administrators, data analysts, mission operators, and CU Boulder students who have worked on SUDA, LASP's instrument for the NASA Europa Clipper mission. Credit: Sean Hsu

Missions

Europa Clipper

Exploring Jupiter's icy moon for conditions suitable for life
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