The European Space Agency’s JUICE mission is on its way to Jupiter, with the spacecraft expected to arrive in July 2031 after an eight-year journey. Launched on April 14, 2023, from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, JUICE will study Jupiter and three of its largest icy moons-Ganymede, Callisto and Europa-to determine whether their subsurface environments could support life.
The spacecraft will examine the moons’ surfaces, interiors, geological and magnetic evolution, and possible underground oceans. Its instruments will use remote sensing, geophysical measurements and direct observations to investigate Jupiter’s atmosphere, magnetic field, radiation and plasma environment, as well as its interaction with the moons. Scientists will also assess Ganymede, Callisto and Europa as planetary bodies and potential habitats.
JUICE is using a series of planetary flybys to gain energy and adjust its trajectory. It completed a lunar-Earth flyby in August 2024 and is scheduled to pass Venus in August 2025. Another Earth flyby is planned for September 2026, followed by a second in January 2029. The spacecraft is expected to reach Jupiter in July 2031.
Led by ESA with contributions from NASA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Israel Space Agency, JUICE is designed to provide a broader understanding of gas giants and potentially habitable worlds elsewhere in the universe. After touring the Jovian system, it is planned to enter orbit around Ganymede, making it the first spacecraft to orbit a moon in the outer Solar System.
Original Source: https://m.economictimes.com/news/international/us/in-2023-a-spacecraft-was-launched-to-explore-the-largest-planet-in-our-solar-system-and-its-icy-moons-in-depth-eight-years-later-it-will-finally-reach-its-target/articleshow/134573818.cms
Category:
Tags:
Publish Date: 2026-09-30 02:33:00
