Source: IE
Context: The European Space Agency’s JUICE spacecraft is to blast off on an eight-year journey through the Solar System
About the JUICE mission:
| Name | JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) |
| Launch Date | April 2023 (scheduled) on the Ariane 5 rocket for 8 years journey (arrival on Jupiter in 2031); lift off from French Guiana |
| Goals | Study Jupiter and its three largest moons (Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa) to understand if their oceans could have ever been suitable habitats for life. |
| Agency | European Space Agency (ESA) under its Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme |
| Instruments | 10 scientific instruments, including an optical camera, ice-penetrating radar, spectrometer, and magnetometer. |
| Importance of Jupiter’s moon | First discovered by astronomer Galileo Galilei more than 400 years ago, Jupiter’s icy moons have huge oceans of liquid water — the main ingredient for life as we know it. That has made Ganymede and Europa prime candidates in the search for life. |
| Ganymede | It is the Solar System’s largest moon and the only one that has its own magnetic field, which protects it from radiation. |
| Europa | It is believed that underneath Jupiter’s Europa’s icy surface, the amount of water is twice that on Earth. NASA is expected to launch its Europa Clipper in 2024 to gather data on Europa’s atmosphere, surface and interior.
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| Significance | The first time the ESA has sent a spacecraft beyond the asteroid belt. |
