JUICE

Blog Credit: Trupti Thakur

Image Courtesy: Google

Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer- JUICE

ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, Juice, will make detailed observations of the giant gas planet and its three large ocean-bearing moons – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa – with a suite of remote sensing, geophysical and in situ instruments. The mission will characterise these moons as both planetary objects and possible habitats, explore Jupiter’s complex environment in depth, and study the wider Jupiter system as an archetype for gas giants across the Universe.

The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice, formerly JUICE) is an interplanetary spacecraft that was launched on 14 April 2023 from Guiana Space Centre in the French Guiana by the European Space Agency (ESA) with Airbus Defence and Space as the main contractor. The mission is planned to study Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa, three of Jupiter’s Galilean moons. They are thought to have significant bodies of liquid water beneath their icy surfaces which would make them potentially habitable environments.

The spacecraft was launched on 14 April 2023 at 12:14:36 UTC and is expected to reach Jupiter in July 2031 after four gravity assists and eight years of travel. In December 2034, the spacecraft will enter orbit around Ganymede for its close-up science mission. Its period of operations will overlap with NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, launching in 2024.

Mission Overview

The JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission, and the first large-class mission in the ESA Cosmic Visions 2015-2025 programme. The mission is designed to spend at least three years collecting data at Jupiter, and will observe three of the planet’s icy moons: Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa. NASA is partnering with ESA for the JUICE mission, and will provide instruments and components for the spacecraft. The mission launched successfully on April 14, 2023, aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana

Background

The mission started as a reformulation of the Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter proposal, which was to be ESA’s component of the cancelled Europa Jupiter System Mission – Laplace (EJSM-Laplace). It became a candidate for the first L-class mission (L1) of the ESA Cosmic Vision Programme, and its selection was announced on 2 May 2012.

In April 2012, JUICE was recommended over the proposed Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics (ATHENA) X-ray telescope and a gravitational wave observatory (New Gravitational wave Observatory (NGO)).

In July 2015, Airbus Defence and Space was selected as the prime contractor to design and build the probe, to be assembled in Toulouse, France.

By 2023, the mission was estimated to cost ESA 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion).

Spacecraft

The main spacecraft design drivers are related to the large distance to the Sun, the use of solar power, and Jupiter’s harsh radiation environment. The orbit insertions at Jupiter and Ganymede and the large number of flyby manoeuvres (more than 25 gravity assists, and two Europa flybys) require the spacecraft to carry about 3,000 kg (6,600 lb) of chemical propellant.

Juice has a fixed 2.5 meter diameter high-gain antenna and a steerable medium-gain antenna, both X- and K-band will be used. Downlink rates of 2 Gb/day are possible with ground-based Deep Space Antennas. On-board data storage capability is 1.25 Tb.

The Juice main engine is a hypergolic bi-propellant (mono-methyl hydrazine and mixed oxides of nitrogen) 425 N thruster. A 100 kg multilayer insulation provides thermal control. The spacecraft is 3-axis stabilized using momentum wheels. Radiation shielding is used to protect onboard electronics from the Jovian environment.

The Juice science payload has a mass of 280 kg and includes the JANUS camera system, the MAJIS visible and infrared imaging spectrometer, the UVS ultraviolet imaging spectrograph, RIME radar sounder, GALA laser altimeter, SWI submillimetre wave instrument, J-MAG magnetometer, PEP particle and plasma package, RPWI radio and plasma wave investigation, 3GM radio science package, the PRIDE radio science instrument, and the RADEM radiation monitor. A 10.6-meter deployable boom will hold J-MAG and RPWI, a 16-meter-long deployable antenna will be used for RIME. Four 3-meter booms carry parts of the RPWI instrument. The other instruments are mounted on the spacecraft body, or for 3GM, within the spacecraft bus.

Launch

Juice was launched into space on 14 April 2023 from the Guiana Space Centre on an Ariane 5 rocket. This was the final launch of an ESA science mission using the Ariane 5 vehicle, and was the second to last launch of the rocket overall.

The launch was originally scheduled for 13 April 2023, but due to poor weather the launch was postponed. The next day a second launch attempt succeeded, with liftoff occurring at 12:14:36 UTC. After the spacecraft separated from the rocket, it established a successful radio signal connection with the ground at 13:04 UTC. Juice’s solar arrays were deployed about half an hour later, prompting ESA to deem the launch a success.

Trajectory

Following the launch, there will be multiple planned gravity assists to put Juice on a trajectory to Jupiter: a flyby of the Earth–Moon system in August 2024, Venus in August 2025, second flyby of Earth in September 2026, and a third and final flyby of Earth in January 2029.

Juice will pass through the asteroid belt twice. A flyby of the asteroid 223 Rosa has been proposed, and could occur in October 2029.

Gravity assists include:

• Interplanetary transfer (Earth, Venus, Earth, Earth)
• Jupiter orbit insertion and apocentre reduction with multiple Ganymede gravity assists
• Reduction of velocity with Ganymede–Callisto assists
• Increase inclination with 10–12 Callisto gravity assists

Relevance to Astrobiology

By studying Jupiter and its moons, JUICE will help astrobiologists understand how habitable worlds might emerge around gas giant planets. The icy moons of Jupiter are also primary targets for astrobiology research in the Solar System. Moons like Europa are believed to harbor oceans of liquid water beneath their icy surfaces, and it is possible that these oceans could be habitable for life as we know it.

NASA Involvement

NASA provided the Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) for the JUICE mission, as well as subsystems and components for two additional instruments: the Particle Environment Package (PEP) and the Radar for Icy Moon Exploration (RIME) experiment.

 

 

Blog By: Trupti Thakur