In News
- The JUICE mission will be the first time that the European Space Agency (ESA) has sent a spacecraft beyond the asteroid belt.
JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer)
- About:
- JUICE is the first large-class mission in the ESA Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme.Â
- The spacecraft will launch on an Ariane 5 in April 2023 on an eight-year journey including gravity assist flybys of Earth and Venus before arriving in the Jupiter system in 2031.
- Goals:Â
- It will spend at least three years making detailed observations of the giant gaseous planet Jupiter and three of its largest moons, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.
- It will understand if the oceans of these icy moons could have ever been suitable habitats for life.
- Components & Different Experiments:
- JANUS – Camera systemÂ
- MAJIS – Moons and Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer
- UVS – UV imaging SpectrographÂ
- SWI – Sub-millimeter Wave Instrument
- GALA – GAnymede Laser Altimeter
- RIME – Radar for Icy Moons Exploration
- J-MAG – A magnetometer instrument for JUICE
- PRIDE – Planetary Radio Interferometer & Doppler Experiment
Source: skyatnightmagazine
