An Israeli experiment, aiming to create a three-dimensional (3D)
map of planet Jupiter’s atmosphere, was launched aboard a European
spacecraft that lifted off on Friday, the Israel Space Agency (ISA)
said.
The mapping data will make it possible to understand the
structure and composition of the solar system’s oldest and largest
planet, Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS), which leads
the experiment, said in a separate statement.
The European Space Agency (ESA) launched the Jupiter Icy Moons
Explorer (JUICE) mission from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana
atop an Ariane 5 launcher.
It is planned to embark on a 900 million kilometer journey to
Jupiter and look, among other things, for life signs in the flowing
oceans beneath the icy surface of its moons.
The Israeli experiment will use an ultra-stable oscillator, an
atomic clock developed by the Israeli space-tech company AccuBeat
with the funding of the ISA under Israel’s Innovation, Science, and
Technology Ministry.
WIS stated that the 2-kg device is the most accurate space
oscillator in the world, noting that even if it worked for 100,000
years, its oscillations would be regular to within a second.
The atomic clock onboard incorporates an Italian-developed
system, enabling the spacecraft to perform experiments and
contribute to its communications with Earth.
The instrument will enable WIS researchers to track subtle
changes in a radio beam they will send from the spacecraft through
Jupiter’s atmosphere.
In this way, every orbit of Jupiter will provide a temperature
profile at a specific point, enabling the team to create the 3D
atmosphere map throughout the whole mission.
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