The launch of Europe’s first Jupiter probe is less than a week away. The probe with the cute name ‘Juice’ will observe the moons of Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, across the universe for eight years.
The European Space Agency (ESA) launched a probe called Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or JUICE for short, at 8:15 a.m. local time on the 13th (9:15 p.m. Korean time). fire up
Estimated year of arrival is 2031. The Juice probe will arrive at Jupiter following an eight-year journey. It will explore the Galilean moons (Ganymede, Callisto, and Euripa), which are icy moons. Io, which is active in volcanic activity, was the only Galilean satellite excluded because it was going to confirm the possibility of life in liquid water under the ice surface.
◇Europe’s first Jupiter exploration… “Eight years of flight only”
Jupiter is 590 million km from Earth and 965 million km from Earth. To head here, Juice is launched on an Ariane 5 rocket from the European Space Station in French Guiana on the Atlantic coast.
Numerous American probes, such as Pioneer, Voyager, Cassini, Galileo, and Juno, have visited Jupiter before, but this is the first time that Europe is challenging Jupiter exploration.
ESA attempts gravity assist ‘LEGA’ (Lunar-Earth gravity assist), which has never been done before in this maneuver. First, it receives gravitational support from the moon, and then receives second help from the earth 1.5 days later. ESA explains that it saves a significant amount of propellant by passing through the Earth-Moon system.
◇’Ganymede’, ‘Europa’, ‘Callisto’… Searching for life and habitability on icy satellites
After receiving help from Venus in addition to Earth and Moon, Juice will enter Jupiter’s orbit in 2031. Of Jupiter’s well-over 70 moons, Juice targets three moons, Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa, which are suspected to hold huge amounts of water beneath the icy surface.
Juice’s purpose is to investigate whether there are large oceans beneath the crust of these moons, confirming the presence of life and ultimately confirming their habitability.
With a total of 35 missions, Juice’s last mission is Ganymede. Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system, has so much potential. Evidence was also found by the Hubble Space Telescope that the ocean beneath Ganymede’s icy surface was saltier than Earth’s oceans. For this reason, Juice spends 9 months investigating Ganymede during the mission scheduled for 4 years. This is the first case of a probe orbiting a satellite of a planet other than Earth.
Europa and Callisto, another target of investigation, are also icy moons. In 1998, NASA’s Galileo spacecraft detected evidence of a liquid ocean swirling beneath Europa’s surface. Europa’s frozen crust is composed mostly of ice. It is estimated to contain twice as much water as Earth’s oceans. Evidence of underwater volcanism was also found, raising the possibility of life.
◇How to survive radiation from the gas giant ‘Jupiter’
The Juice rover goes into space with 10 rover instruments for remote sensing and terrain observation. Various countries, including NASA and the Japanese Space Agency, contributed to the creation of this exploration equipment.
The gravitational field measurement device, laser altimeter, optical camera, magnetometer, imaging spectrometer, UV imaging spectrometer and other instruments are used for a variety of missions, from measuring Jupiter’s atmosphere, magnetic field and plasma to remotely observing the surface and interior of its three icy moons. . In particular, magnetometers, particle detectors, and plasma devices measure the magnetic field to determine the presence of the ocean, and wireless devices measure the gravitational field to help detect the interior of the satellite.
The biggest obstacle is, of course, Jupiter’s mammoth magnetic field. Depending on the solar wind, Jupiter’s magnetic field averages 20 million kilometers, regarding 15 times the diameter of the sun.
Juice must survive this huge and powerful radiation belt and protect sensitive exploration equipment. Accordingly, ESA and NASA analyzed data from previous Jupiter probes such as Pioneer, Voyager, Cassini, and Galileo, and drew an optimal route that would not be exposed to radiation through the risk verification model ‘JOSE’.
◇US and China also challenge Jupiter exploration
Following Europe, the United States and China are also promoting Jupiter exploration.
In particular, the juice probe was originally planned as a joint mission with NASA. NASA’s Jupiter probe ‘Europa Clipper’, launched in 2024, will arrive at Jupiter in 2030, one year ahead of Juice, orbit around Jupiter, and collaborate with Juice probe to explore the inner sea of Europa.
China is also pursuing a mission to Jupiter following Mars. The China National Astronautics Administration (CNSA) announced in September last year that it plans to simultaneously launch a pair of spacecraft with a single rocket around 2030 in a mission dubbed “Tianwen 4”. It is explained that a large spacecraft will be sent to Jupiter, and a smaller spacecraft will be sent to Uranus.
Electronic Newspaper Internet Reporter Heewon Seo ([email protected])
