European Spacecraft Juice starts a pioneering trip to Jupiter

Starting an amazing journey that marks a major turning point in space exploration, the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) of the European Space Agency Starting with a difficult twin gravity-assist maneuver involving flybys of Earth and its moon, the spacecraft’s voyage will last about ten years. Setting Juice on path to reach Jupiter by 2031 depends on this maneuver.

Investigating Jupiter’s moons Europa and Ganymede—which are thought to have huge subterranean oceans under their frozen surfaces—is Juice’s main goal. These seas are important targets for research since they might sustain life. Juice will employ gravitational forces from many astronomical bodies to change its path in order to reach Jupiter, therefore enabling a more effective use of fuel than would be possible from carrying large quantities of propellant.

Juice will do a move that calls for unheard-of accuracy. The spaceship will follow a well defined trajectory with little room for mistake. Every error might compromise the success of the operation. Juice will do several gravity aids from Venus and Earth following its first fly-by, therefore optimizing its path as it approaches Jupiter.

Starting in French Guiana in April 2023, Juice’s trip to Jupiter will consist of a sequence of calculated flybys and gravitational boosts meant to progressively raise its speed and change its trajectory. Reaching far-off targets calls for this approach since direct travel would require unrealistically large quantities of fuel.

One of Jupiter’s biggest moons, Ganymede will be the main focus of the Juice project; another mission from another space agency will center Europa. Both missions change the emphasis from planets like Venus and Mars to the frigid moons of Jupiter since they are a part of a larger search to grasp the possibility for life outside Earth. The results of these missions should offer vital new perspectives on the circumstances likely to support life in our solar system.

The accomplishment of this mission will open the path for next missions of exploration of the outer solar system as Juice follows its carefully thought-out course. Offering the possibility for revolutionary findings regarding the existence of life in the great reaches of space, it marks a significant progress in our search to investigate and comprehend far-off worlds.