Retired ESA Staff, but still passionate about planetary exploration missions
Mr. George Scoon, retired in 2001 after 37 years of service with the European Space Agency, attended the design sessions of the Jupiter Entry Probe study conducted in the CDF.
Mr. Scoon started work at ESRO in 1965 as a System Engineer on Sounding Rockets, COS-B, Exosat and many more. The last 15 years of his career at ESTEC were spent as a Study Manager for Future Science Projects. In this role he conducted studies for more than 15 different space missions including, among others, Mercury Cornerstone System and Technology, Mercury Sample Return, Venus Sample Return, EuroMoon 2000, Cassini Titan Probe and Vesta.
The Concurrent Engineering approach was already known to Mr. Scoon from his time on the EuroMoon project, hence he was interested to see how this concept has evolved and is currently being applied in the Agency and in the Concurrent Design Facility.
The Jupiter Entry Probe (JEP) study, initiated by the Science Directorate, is a Technology Reference Mission with the purpose to investigate the technologies and design issues of a potential future Jovian entry vehicle, designed to perform atmospheric measurements during descent. This CDF Study is the next step made by ESA to investigate the technical constraints and difficulties for in-situ Exploration of the Jovian atmosphere in the frame of the JME Technology Reference Study.
The study started on October 7th and was completed on November 9th after eight half-day technical sessions conducted by the interdisciplinary team of specialists from ESTEC and ESOC.
The complexity of this mission and the challenges of this study attracted the interest of Mr. Scoon, who attended some design sessions and the Internal Final Presentation, contributing with his presence and his suggestions to stimulate the new generation of engineers at work in the CDF.
For more details on the Jovian Reference Study see: JME Technology Reference Study