European space probe will start year-long journey to Jupiter within a week | Science & Planet

‘Juice’ stands for ‘Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer’. The unmanned spacecraft should arrive at Jupiter by mid-2031 to study the gas planet’s atmosphere, magnetic environment and rings, among other things. Much attention is also paid to three icy moons of Jupiter: Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Those moons probably contain oceans of liquid water under their icy crust, and Juice, for example, will investigate whether life ever originated in those oceans. The spacecraft will fly past one of those moons a total of 35 times during the mission.

At the end of 2034, ‘Juice’ will then be placed in orbit around one of those moons, Ganymede. It is also the largest moon in the solar system. And at the end of the mission, in March 2035, the probe will make a controlled crash on that moon.

The mission is good for a number of firsts. For example, ‘Juice’ will be the first spacecraft ever to orbit a moon other than our own. And along the way, normally in August 2024, the probe will perform its first lunar-Earth gravity swing to conserve propellant.

Similar gravitational swings are planned to fly past Venus and Earth en route to Jupiter, using the planet’s gravity to change the direction and speed of the spacecraft. Juice will also use Jupiter’s gravity to orbit Ganymede.

There is also a Belgian contribution to the mission. For example, the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB) says it is involved in four of the ten instruments on board. Two of them – a magnetometer (J-MAG) and a radio science experiment (3GM) – are instruments to probe the interior of the moons, the laser altimeter GALA will measure the tides of Ganymede and create a topographical map of the moon, and the fourth instrument is a spectrometer (MAJIS). This will determine the properties of the ice and the minerals on the surface of the ice moons. The Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA) was also involved in the development of the latter instrument.

The spacecraft is located in Kourou and has meanwhile been installed on top of the Ariane 5 launcher that will take it to space, it said at an ESA press briefing on Thursday. It is also the last ESA mission for that launcher. She is succeeded by the Ariane 6.

The launch is scheduled for April 13 at 2:15 p.m. Belgian time. About 28 minutes after launch, at an altitude of over 1,500 kilometers, ‘Juice’ will be disconnected from the launch vehicle. More than an hour and a half after launch, the probe’s solar panels, covering 85 square meters, will be unfolded. The probe also includes a 2.5 meter antenna. This is necessary to be able to send the collected data to the earth, which is hundreds of millions of kilometers away.

If due to circumstances – for example the weather – the launch cannot take place on April 13, there will be a new launch opportunity every day until at least the end of the month, or so it sounded during the press briefing.

The launch will also be attended by King Philippe. He will visit the space center in Kourou from 11 to 14 April, accompanied by State Secretary for Recovery and Strategic Investments, in charge of Science Policy, Thomas Dermine (PS).

Belgium is a founding member of ESA, is the fifth largest net contributor to the Agency’s budget and has participated in the Ariane research and development program since 1973. The space sector in Belgium represents approximately 3,620 full-time jobs and an annual turnover of approximately 710 million euros.

The American space agency (NASA) is also working on a mission to Jupiter. In October 2024, the probe ‘Europa Clipper’ would be launched. It will examine another Jupiter moon, Europa.

The NASA probe will reach Jupiter as early as 2030, so before ‘Juice’. This is partly due to the more powerful launcher with which the ‘Europa Clipper’ is launched; the ‘Juice’ needs more gravity pendulums on its way, ESA said.