Ohmcraft powers NASA’s Europa Clipper with custom resistors

As a specialist in thick-film, high-voltage, high precision resistor design and manufacturing, Ohmcraft’s components are built to withstand the extreme conditions of outer space. NASA’s mission to explore Jupiter’s moon, Europa, in search of life-sustaining worlds will again rely on Ohmcraft’s expertise for critical support.

“There’s little way to fix a spacecraft once it’s left our planet, so the equipment needs to endure and succeed throughout the many years of the mission,” said John Miller, Site Manager of Micropen Technologies within the Exxelia group. “We worked closely alongside our customers to develop resistors to meet the very specific requirements needed for MASPEX and SUDA. We’ll be eagerly waiting to see what the mission uncovers.”

Ohmcraft’s technology uses the proprietary Micropen electronic printing system to “print” precise, narrow, serpentine lines with resistive inks on a variety of substrates, producing higher performance resistors over a wider range of values on a smaller surface area than is possible with conventional thick film resistor technology. Ohmcraft performed extensive testing on these parts to meet the specific requirements of NASA’s space flight specification EEE-INST-002. The company’s resistors have been used for Jupiter-bound missions before including NASA’s Juno spacecraft and the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft.

The MASPEX and SUDA instruments are built for chemical analysis. MASPEX, which relies on 20 high-voltage leaded resistors and five surface-mount resistors, will study Europa’s atmosphere. SUDA, which uses six precision-resistor designs, will analyse particles that have come off from Europa’s surface due to meteorite impacts or plumes from ocean activity. Europa Clipper is scheduled to enter Jupiter’s orbit in 2030.