The Jupiter mission will have the first go at moon

The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer mission: Io, Cassini, and Io in the Ascent of Ganymede

Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system, larger than Pluto and Mercury, and it’s the only one that has a magnetic field similar to Earth. Juice has instruments that can peer through its icy crust, as well as reveal the moon’s rotation, gravity, shape, interior structure and composition.

Although Juno was designed to study Jupiter, it has also conducted fly-bys of two of the planet’s icy moons, sending back spectacular images. When we designed and built Juno, I didn’t think we would fly by the two planets. Io, a rocky fourth moon discovered by Galileo, will be the site of two fly-bys in December of and February of 2024 according to the mission.

Thegravity probe and the ice-penetrating radar are also highlighted by Atzei. The radar is sensitive enough to spot underground water in the 10 kilometer range, but not under the surface of Ganymede. The gravity probe may provide information about Ganymede’s internal ocean, and it could conclusively determine whether Callisto has an ocean deeper below ground.

When the Galileo probe finished its work, it dove into Jupiter’s depths and burned up in the gas giant’s atmosphere. Cassini later did the same, plunging into Saturn in 2017, collecting a last bit of data—and preventing space trash—while completing its mission in dramatic fashion. A similar fate awaits Juice, which will plummet into Ganymede at the end of its lifespan, probably in 2035 or a few years later.

The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer craft is currently on top of an Ariane 5 rocket and will launch at a time of 9:15 local time on 13 April. “There is no launch window, only one launch instant,” said programme director and launch operator Véronique Loisel at Arianespace, during a press briefing in Kourou last week.

Such a precise lift-off time is required to insert the spacecraft into the correct orbit around the Sun, explained Loisel, who is based in Évry, France. If the launch has to be postponed because of poor weather or other reasons, the next opportunity will come around 24 hours later.

Launch of Juice: a New Spacecraft Mission to Reach Jupiter, the Largest Planet in Our Solar System, and Possible Habitable Environments

If everything goes according to plan, the European Space Agency (ESA) probe will circle back and pass close to both Earth and the Moon in around one year’s time, which will help to slingshot the spacecraft towards the outer Solar System. The most accurate gravity-assisted maneuver is what this double fly-by will require, said the engineer at the briefing. Atzei is based at the agency’s European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

After launch, the spacecraft will separate from the Ariane 5 launcher about 28 minutes later. Over the course of 17 days, Juice will deploy its solar arrays, antennas and other instruments, followed by three months of testing and preparing the instruments.

Juice will take eight years to reach Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. During its lengthy cruise, the spacecraft will utilize some gravitational slingshots as it flies by Earth, our moon and Venus to help with the journey.

NASA is planning to launch the Clipper mission in the year 2074 to reach Jupiter and conduct more than 50 flybys of the moon.

Jupiter was explored first by NASA’s Pioneer and Voyager missions and later by Galileo and the Juno probe. Juno has been orbiting Jupiter and flying by some of its moons since 2016.

Although the three moons are encased in thick ice shells, interior heating could be taking place at each moon’s core — and that warmth could make the interior oceans possible habitats for past or existing life.

It has been known for a long time that water can be found on planets and moons far away from the sun.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/13/world/esa-jupiter-juice-mission-launch-scn/index.html

The Juice Project: Finding Habitable Environments in Solar-Scale Moons and the First Flybys of Jupiter’s Icy Island

The principal investigator of Juice’s magnetometer says that the understanding of where to search for potential habitability has changed over the last 20 years.

It takes a stable supply of liquid water, a heat source and organic material to sustain life on Earth, and then you need that for a long time.

“With Juice, we want to confirm there’s liquid water in these moons, confirm their heat sources. Other instruments will be able to remotely sense whether there’s organic material on the surface as well. She said that this is putting all of those ingredients together.

Juice’s truck-size spacecraft has been designed to survive a long journey to Jupiter — and it has to survive the extremes of the gas giant’s environment once it arrives. There will be lead-lined vaults to protect the most sensitive electronics.

The most critical time for it is the first flyby of the island. The first couple of flybys will be the time when we’ll confirm the existence of an ocean.