🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <roelle.724695444@uars_mag>, roelle@uars_mag.jhuapl.edu (Curtis Roelle) writes:
> Is there a possiblity that, despite Galileo's HGA parasol, solar heat
> could have still been a factor in its failure to deploy?  Especially
> when one considers that for the nine successful deployments out of
> ten, cited above, every corresponding spacecraft never left earth
> orbit, while Galileo got as close to the sun as the planet Venus.

My guess: No.  Good question, but also a very obvious one (launch was
in October 1989, Venus encounter February 1990, HGA attempt April
1991).  I would presume that the Galileo people investigated this idea
very thoroughly, although I don't have first-hand knowledge about
their inquiries.  

They've never publicly suggested that solar heat was involved in the
problem, so I presume they have reason to be satisfied that the cause
lies elsewhere.  Their best guess is loss of lubricant between the
alignment pins on the ribs and the sockets on the central mast,
possibly due to excessive vibration as Galileo was trucked  to
California from the Cape and back again after modifications.

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