“At no point was the orbiter in any danger” from the foam, says Bob Carilli a coauthor of the study and engineer with NASA contractor United Space Alliance.
A compelling demonstration of its existence or absence may be reached from gravity and altimetry data in the proposed Europa orbiter.
Enceladus a moon of Saturn stunned scientists two years ago when NASA 's cassini orbiter discovered geyser-like jets of water vapor shooting into space from its South Pole.
Venera 9 consisted of two main parts that separated in orbit, an orbiter and a lander.
But scientists decided to let it carry out additional exploratory tasks as the orbiter is still in good condition and has fuel in reserve.
The orbiter has now been bolted to its external fuel tank and is set to go on its 39th and final mission to the International Space Station on 1 November.
Two of Saturn's moons appear to form a conjoined world in an image from NASA's Cassini orbiter released September 24.
Because the crew trains on the mock-ups at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, they know where and how they'd like to see the information displayed on the real orbiter.
Atlantis was chosen as the first orbiter to receive the glass cockpit.
"The tradition around space is what I'm worried will go away," says Roberta Wyrick, 56. A United space employee, she oversees orbiter testing and is integrally involved with launches.
One Almaz orbiter even came armed with an automatic aircraft cannon in the event of a "Moonraker" style space battle with the United States.
Atlantis was the first orbiter to undergo numerous modifications during a 10-month major overhaul in 1998.
"We have greater control over the orbiter than we used to," says Clinton Dorris, deputy manager of the Altair lander program.
But the orbiter results will likely settle the fascinating question of whether Europa has an ocean.
The orbiter is also used to analyse more active regions.
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