2024-04-13 05:49:00
One year following its launch, the ‘Juice’ probe is on the right track. The mission to explore Jupiter’s moons has gone so well so far that it may be possible to achieve more than expected scientifically.
‘Juice’ was launched into space on April 14, 2023 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from the European Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. After its arrival near Jupiter scheduled for July 2031, the probe must notably search for traces of life under the icy surfaces of Jupiter’s moons Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
Fuel economy
‘From the start, everything went according to plan,’ Peter Wurz, director of the Institute of Physics at the University of Bern, told Keystone-ATS. Under his leadership, a measuring device was developed and built for the ‘Juice’ mission.
The probe followed the correct trajectory and thus saved fuel which had been planned for possible corrections. ‘This fuel can later be used for science,’ according to Professor Wurz.
The exact use of this additional fuel is currently under discussion. It is possible that there will be more flybys of Jupiter’s moons or that there will be a closer flyby of Ganymede.
When the probe was commissioned, however, everything did not go as planned. A sixteen meter long radar antenna, called ‘Rime’, which had been folded for the launch, did not deploy correctly.
‘It gave us stomach aches for a few days,’ notes Peter Wurz. Thanks to a complex process, during which the probe was turned towards the sun to warm it, the scientists still succeeded.
In one year, ‘Juice’ traveled 951,650,000 kilometers, or more than 2.5 million kilometers per day. But the probe has only made 12% of its journey, because it takes detours. In order to use as little energy as possible for its journey, it first orbits the Sun several times and thus gains momentum.
Swiss institutions involved
In addition to the search for traces of life, the ‘Juice’ mission must also contribute generally to the understanding of the formation of Jupiter. As the gas giant is the oldest planet in our solar system, understanding its formation is considered important to knowledge of the origin of Earth.
The story is believed to be preserved in the ice of Jupiter’s moons. Concretely, scientists will study their chemical composition. ‘Juice’ will not land on the icy moons to take samples directly, but will simply fly over them.
In Switzerland, the University of Bern, the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and the Federal Laboratory for Materials Testing and Research (Empa) are participating in the mission of the European Space Agency (ESA).
/ATS
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