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Flight to Jupiter: space probe “Juice” on Friday with second launch attempt
The launch vehicle “Ariane 5” will carry the “Juice” spacecraft into space on Thursday, April 13, at around 2:15 p.m.
© Those: ESA/S. Corvaya
After the postponement of its launch on Thursday, the Jupiter probe “Juice” of the European space agency Esa is now scheduled to take off on Friday. The launch at the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana is scheduled for 2:14 p.m. On Thursday it was canceled a few minutes before the scheduled date. There was a risk of thunderstorms, said an Esa spokesman in the control center in Darmstadt. The probe is controlled from there.
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After a successful launch on board an Ariane 5 launch vehicle, the “Juice” probe is scheduled to travel to the giant gas planet Jupiter for eight years. Then scientists hope to gain important insights into the largest planet in our solar system and its moons: the question at stake is whether life could exist on them.
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Before it can begin its work on Jupiter, the probe has a long journey ahead of it. The arrival at Jupiter is planned for the year 2031. This is the farthest mission ever undertaken by the European space agency Esa. The probe has ten scientific instruments on board, with which it is to take a look at the moons “Europa”, “Kallisto” and “Ganymede”. Among other things, radar and laser measurements are planned in the flyby.
Live stream: Launch of the ESA space probe “Juice” on Friday
Here you can follow the launch of the Esa space probe “Juice” from 2 p.m. in the live stream:
The “Juice” probe (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) is to be supplied with energy via solar panels with a total size of 85 square meters.
The Juice spacecraft.
© Quelle: S. Martin/ESA-CNES-Arianespace/O
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The first 99 minutes after the start are crucial
It is a major challenge for the researchers to transport the probe to its actual place of use on Jupiter. After all, the planet is hundreds of millions of kilometers from Earth. After its launch, the probe must first fly past the moon and the earth, then it flies past Venus, then back to the earth, and only then does it finally reach its destination. “If we had a bigger rocket, we could fly straight to Jupiter,” says Andrea Accomazzo, director of flight operations for the Juice mission. But with the “Ariane 5” rocket that is not possible. It takes the flybys of Earth and Venus to build up speed.
The countdown is on: Esa probe is to explore Jupiter
The “Juice” spacecraft will be launched this Thursday and is scheduled to arrive at Jupiter in 2031 to explore it and its icy moons.
© Which: Archyde.com
The first 99 minutes after launch will also be of decisive importance for the success of the mission: The solar panels of the probe unfold within this time. They supply the highly complex technology on board with electricity.
RND/lin/dpa