Magnetic Shielding Concepts for Reaction Wheel Assembly on NASA Europa Clipper Spacecraft

Abstract

Magnetic shielding concepts were investigated for the Reaction Wheel Assembly on the NASA Europa Clipper spacecraft. This investigation was performed in order to mitigate the magnetic incompatibility between the Reaction Wheel Assembly (RWA) and the two magnetically sensitive science instruments on the Europa Clipper spacecraft. Given the Reaction Wheel Assembly's mass and space design constraints, two magnetic shielding concepts were taken into consideration: (1) magnetic shielding of the internal magnet of the RWA Wheel Unit using Mu-metal material and (2) magnetic shielding of the entire RWA Wheel Unit using Metglas material.