posted 05-02-2012 02:32 PM               

JUICE is Europe's next large science mission

Jupiter's icy moons are the focus of Europe's next large science mission, ESA announced today (May 2, 2012).

The JUpiter ICy moons Explorer — JUICE — was selected over two other candidates: NGO, the New Gravitational wave Observatory, to hunt for gravitational waves, and ATHENA, the Advanced Telescope for High-Energy Astrophysics.

Credit: ESA

Above: Artist's impression of JUICE

JUICE is the first Large-class mission chosen as part of ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program.

It will be launched in 2022 from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on an Ariane 5, arriving at Jupiter in 2030 to spend at least three years making detailed observations.

Jupiter's diverse Galilean moons - volcanic Io, icy Europa and rock-ice Ganymede and Callisto - make the jovian system a miniature Solar System in its own right.

With Europa, Ganymede and Callisto all thought to host internal oceans, the mission will study the moons as potential habitats for life, addressing two key themes of Cosmic Vision: what are the conditions for planet formation and the emergence of life, and how does the Solar System work?

The JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) will continuously observe Jupiter's atmosphere and magnetosphere, and the interaction of the Galilean moons with the gas giant planet.

It will visit Callisto, the most heavily cratered object in the Solar System, and will twice fly by Europa. JUICE will make the first measurements of the thickness of Europa's icy crust and will identify candidate sites for future in situ exploration.

The spacecraft will finally enter orbit around Ganymede in 2032, where it will study the icy surface and internal structure of the moon, including its subsurface ocean.

Ganymede is the only moon in the Solar System known to generate its own magnetic field, and JUICE will observe the unique magnetic and plasma interactions with Jupiter's magnetosphere in detail.

"Jupiter is the archetype for the giant planets of the Solar System and for many giant planets being found around other stars," says Prof. Alvaro Giménez Cañete, ESA's Director of Science and Robotic Exploration.

"JUICE will give us better insight into how gas giants and their orbiting worlds form, and their potential for hosting life."

"The selection process has been challenging given the excellent quality of the three mission candidates, and I would like to thank the Space Science Advisory Committee for its hard work and for having carried out this very challenging process in a very rigorous way," says the Chair of ESA's Science Program Committee, Dr Richard Bonneville.

Today's announcement is the culmination of a process started in 2004 when ESA consulted the wider scientific community to set Europe's goals for space exploration in the coming decade.

The resulting Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program identified four scientific aims. What are the conditions for life and planetary formation? How does the Solar System work? What are the fundamental laws of the Universe? How did the Universe begin and what is it made of?

In 2007, a 'Call for Missions' was issued around these aims and resulted in a number of L-class missions being considered.

"It was a difficult decision to choose one mission from three excellent candidates. All three would produce world-class science and put Europe at the forefront of space research," says Prof. Giménez Cañete.

"JUICE is a necessary step for the future exploration of our outer Solar System."

The high scientific value of both NGO and ATHENA was also recognized by the Science Program Committee in today's decision, and technology activities are planned to continue, enabling the missions to be considered as candidates for future launch opportunities. A second Call for Large Missions is expected in 2013.

posted 04-11-2023 06:42 PM               

JUICE rolled out to launch pad

On Tuesday (April 11), Arianespace rolled out the Ariane V rocket carrying ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.

JUICE is scheduled to launch on Thursday (April 13) at 8:15 a.m. EDT (1215 GMT).

Photos: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Optique vidéo du CSG/P.Baudon

posted 04-14-2023 07:45 AM               

European Space Agency launches JUICE probe to study Jupiter icy moons

An interplanetary probe is now on its way to "squeeze" out all it can about Jupiter and three of its large ocean-bearing moons.

The European Space Agency (ESA) launched its Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or JUICE, mission on Friday (April 14). The probe lifted off atop an Arianespace Ariane 5 ECA rocket from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana at 8:14 a.m. EDT (1214 GMT or 9:14 a.m. local time).

posted 04-28-2023 09:27 AM               

Work continues to deploy Juice RIME antenna

Juice's ice-penetrating RIME antenna has not yet been deployed as planned. During the first week of commissioning, an issue arose with the 16-metre-long Radar for Icy Moons Exploration (RIME) antenna, which is preventing it from being released from its mounting bracket.

Work continues to free the radar and teams at ESA's mission control centre in Darmstadt, Germany, along with partners in science and industry, have lots of ideas up their sleeves.

Above: Juice's longest antenna awaits deployment. (ESA)

Every day the RIME antenna shows more signs of movement, visible in images from the Juice Monitoring Camera on board the spacecraft with a partial view of the radar and its mount. Now partially extended but still stowed away, the radar is roughly a third of its full intended length.

The current leading hypothesis is that a tiny stuck pin has not yet made way for the antenna's release. In this case, it is thought that just a matter of millimetres could make the difference to set the rest of the radar free.

Various options are still available to nudge the important instrument out of its current position. The next steps to fully deploy the antenna include an engine burn to shake the spacecraft a little followed by a series of rotations that will turn Juice, warming up the mount and radar, which are currently in the cold shadows.

Juice is otherwise performing excellently after the successful deployment and operation of its mission-critical solar arrays and medium gain antenna, as well as its 10.6-m magnetometer boom.

With two months of planned commissioning remaining, there is plenty of time for teams to get to the bottom of the RIME deployment issue and continue work on the rest of the powerful suite of instruments on their way to investigate the outer Solar System.

Updates will be shared as new information becomes available.

The RIME instrument is an ice-penetrating radar designed to study the surface and subsurface structure of Jupiter's icy moons down to a depth of 9 km.

It is one of ten instruments on board ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, Juice, set to investigate the emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants and the formation of our Solar System.

posted 05-12-2023 03:51 PM               

Juice's RIME antenna breaks free

More than three weeks after efforts began to deploy Juice's ice-penetrating Radar for Icy Moons Exploration (RIME) antenna, the 16-metre-long boom has finally escaped its mounting bracket.

During the first attempt to extend the folded-up antenna, only the first segments of each half were deployed. Flight controllers suspected that a tiny stuck pin jammed the other segments in place.

Above: The first stuck part of the RIME antenna deploys. (ESA)

Fortunately, the flight control teams at ESA's mission control centre in Darmstadt had lots of ideas up their sleeves.

To try to shift the pin, they shook Juice using its thrusters, then they warmed Juice with sunlight. Every day the RIME antenna was showing signs of movement, but no full release.

On 12 May RIME was finally jolted into life when the flight control team fired a mechanical device called a 'non-explosive actuator' (NEA), located in the jammed bracket. This delivered a shock that moved the pin by a matter of millimetres and allowed the antenna to unfold.

Above: The second stuck part of the RIME antenna deploys. (ESA)

But a final part of the antenna remained folded. Confirmation that the RIME antenna was successfully deployed came only when the flight control team fired another actuator in the bracket, causing RIME to fully stretch itself out after months spent folded up for launch.

Once ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) arrives at Jupiter, it will use RIME to study the surface and subsurface structure of Jupiter's icy moons down to a depth of 9 km. RIME is one of ten instruments on board Juice set to investigate the emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants and the formation of our Solar System.