Names | JUICE | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mission type | Jupiter orbiter | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Operator | European Space Agency | ||||||||||||||||||||||
COSPAR ID | 2023-053A | ||||||||||||||||||||||
SATCAT no. | 56176 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Website | www.esa.int | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Mission duration | Cruise phase: 8 years Science phase: 3.5 years Elapsed: 1 year, 4 months and 15 days | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Spacecraft properties | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Manufacturer | Airbus Defence and Space | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Launch mass | 6,070 kg (13,380 lb) [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Dry mass | 2,420 kg (5,340 lb) [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Dimensions | 16.8 x 27.1 x 13.7 meters [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Power | 850 watts [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Start of mission | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Launch date | 14 April 2023 12:14:36 UTC [2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Rocket | Ariane 5 ECA+ (VA-260) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Launch site | Kourou ELA-3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Contractor | Arianespace | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Flyby of Moon | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Closest approach | 19 August 2024, 21:16 UTC | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Distance | 700 km (430 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Flyby of Earth | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Closest approach | 20 August 2024,21:57 UTC | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Distance | 6,807 km (4,230 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Flyby of Venus | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Closest approach | 31 August 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Flyby of Earth | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Closest approach | 29 September 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Flyby of Earth | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Closest approach | 18 January 2029 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Jupiter orbiter | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Orbital insertion | July 2031 (planned) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Orbital departure | December 2034 (planned) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Ganymede orbiter | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Orbital insertion | December 2034 (planned) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Orbital parameters | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Periapsis altitude | 500 km (310 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Apoapsis altitude | 500 km (310 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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JUICE mission insignia |
The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice,formerly JUICE [3] ) is an interplanetary spacecraft on its way to orbit and study three icy moons of Jupiter:Ganymede,Callisto,and Europa. These planetary-mass moons are planned to be studied because they are thought to have beneath their frozen surfaces significant bodies of liquid water,which would make them potentially habitable for extraterrestrial life. [4] [5]
JUICE is the first interplanetary spacecraft to the outer Solar System planets not launched by the United States and the first set to orbit a moon other than Earth's Moon. Launched by the European Space Agency (ESA),from Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana on 14 April 2023,with Airbus Defence and Space as the main contractor, [6] [7] it is expected to reach Jupiter in July 2031 after four gravity assists and eight years of travel. [8] [9] In December 2034,the spacecraft will enter orbit around Ganymede for its close-up science mission. [8] Its period of operations will overlap with NASA's Europa Clipper mission,launching in October 2024.
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). [10] 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. [11]
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)). [12] [13]
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. [14]
By 2023,the mission was estimated to cost ESA 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion). [15]
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. [16] The total delta-V capability of the spacecraft is about 2,700 m/s (6,000 mph). [17]
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. [1]
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 [1] (the required radiation tolerance is 50 kilorad at equipment level [17] ).
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. [1]
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, [18] and was the second to last launch of the rocket overall. [19]
The launch was originally scheduled for 13 April 2023,but due to poor weather the launch was postponed. [20] 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. [18]
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. [8]
Juice will pass through the asteroid belt twice. A flyby of the asteroid 223 Rosa was proposed to occur in October 2029,but was abandoned to save fuel for the primary Jovian mission. [21] [22] [23]
Gravity assists include: [24]
The main characteristics of the Jupiter reference tour are summarised below (source: Table 5-2 of ESA/SRE(2014)1 [17] ). This scenario assumed an early June 2022 launch, however, the delta-V requirements are representative due to the rather short, repetitive orbital configurations of Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
Event | Duration | Delta-V notes [17] |
---|---|---|
Jupiter orbit insertion: When it arrives in the Jovian system in July 2031, [8] Juice will first perform a 400 km (250 mi) Ganymede gravity assist flyby to reduce spacecraft velocity by ~300 m/s (670 mph), followed by ~900 m/s (2,000 mph) Jupiter orbit insertion engine burn ~7.5 hours later. Finally, a Perijove Raising Manoeuvre (PRM) burn at apoapsis will raise the periapsis of JUICE's initial 13x243 Jovian radii elongated orbit to match that of Ganymede (15 Rj). | 186 days | 952 m/s (2,130 mph). |
2nd Ganymede flyby to initial encounter with Callisto: 2nd, 3rd and 4th Ganymede flyby to reduce the orbital period and inclination of JUICE's orbit, followed by 1st flyby of Callisto. | 193 days | 27 m/s (60 mph). |
Europa phase: Starting in July 2032, [8] there will be two <400 km (250 mi) flybys of Europa followed by another Callisto flyby. The brief Europa encounters (during which the probe is expected to sustain a third of its lifetime radiation exposure [25] ) are planned such that the radiation exposure is as low as possible, first by encountering Europa at perijove (i.e. the spacecraft's perijove is equal to Europa’s orbital radius), and second by having only one low perijove passage per Europa flyby. | 35 days | 30 m/s (67 mph). |
Inclined phase: ~6 further flybys of Callisto and Ganymede to temporarily increase the orbital inclination to 22 degrees. This will allow investigating Jupiter's polar regions and Jupiter's magnetosphere [8] at the maximum inclination over a four-month period. | 208 days | 13 m/s (29 mph). |
Transfer to Ganymede: A series of Callisto and Ganymede gravity assists will be performed to gradually reduce JUICE's speed by 1,600 m/s (3,600 mph). Finally, a series of distant ~45,000 km (28,000 mi) flybys of the far side of Ganymede (near the Jupiter-Ganymede-L2 Lagrange point) will further reduce the required orbital insertion delta-V by 500 m/s (1,100 mph). | 353 days | 60 m/s (130 mph). |
Ganymede orbital phase: In December 2034, [8] Juice will enter an initial 12-hour polar orbit around Ganymede after performing a 185 m/s (410 mph) delta-V braking burn. Jupiter gravitational perturbations will gradually reduce the minimum orbital altitude to 500 km (310 mi) after ~100 days. The spacecraft will then perform two major engine firings to enter a nearly circular 500 km (310 mi) polar orbit, for a further six months of observations (e.g. Ganymede's composition and magnetosphere). At the end of 2035, [8] Jupiter perturbations will cause JUICE to impact on Ganymede within weeks as the spacecraft runs out of propellant. | 284 days | 614 m/s (1,370 mph). |
Full tour (Jupiter orbit insertion to end of mission) | 1259 days | 1,696 m/s (3,790 mph). |
The JUICE orbiter will perform detailed investigations on Ganymede and evaluate its potential to support life. Investigations of Europa and Callisto will complete a comparative picture of these Galilean moons. [26] The three moons are thought to harbour internal liquid water oceans, and so are central to understanding the habitability of icy worlds.
The main science objectives for Ganymede, and to a lesser extent for Callisto, are: [26]
For Europa, the focus is on the chemistry essential to life, including organic molecules, and on understanding the formation of surface features and the composition of the non-water-ice material. Furthermore, JUICE will provide the first subsurface sounding of the moon, including the first determination of the minimal thickness of the icy crust over the most recently volcanically active regions.
More distant spatially resolved observations will also be carried out for several minor irregular satellites and the volcanically active moon Io.
On 21 February 2013, after a competition, 11 science instruments were selected by ESA, which were developed by science and engineering teams from all over Europe, with participation from the US. [27] [28] [29] [30] Japan also contributed several components for SWI, RPWI, GALA, PEP, JANUS and J-MAG instruments, and will facilitate testing. [31] [32] [33]
The name is Latin for "comprehensive observation of Jupiter, his love affairs and descendants." [34] It is a camera system to image Ganymede and interesting parts of the surface of Callisto at better than 400 m/pixel (resolution limited by mission data volume). Selected targets will be investigated in high-resolution with a spatial resolution from 25 m/pixel down to 2.4 m/pixel with a 1.3° field of view. The camera system has 13 panchromatic, broad and narrow-band filters in the 0.36 μm to 1.1 μm range, and provides stereo imaging capabilities. JANUS will also allow relating spectral, laser and radar measurements to geomorphology and thus will provide the overall geological context.
A visible and infrared imaging spectrograph operating from 400 nm to 5.70 μm, with spectral resolution of 3–7 nm, that will observe tropospheric cloud features and minor gas species on Jupiter and will investigate the composition of ices and minerals on the surfaces of the icy moons. The spatial resolution will be down to 75 m (246 ft) on Ganymede and about 100 km (62 mi) on Jupiter.
An imaging spectrograph operating in the wavelength range 55–210 nm with spectral resolution of <0.6 nm that will characterise exospheres and aurorae of the icy moons, including plume searches on Europa, and study the Jovian upper atmosphere and aurorae. Resolution up to 500 m (1,600 ft) observing Ganymede and up to 250 km (160 mi) observing Jupiter.
A spectrometer using a 30 cm (12 in) antenna and working in 1080–1275 GHz and 530–601 GHz with spectral resolving power of ~107 that will study Jupiter's stratosphere and troposphere, and the exospheres and surfaces of the icy moons.
A laser altimeter with a 20 m (66 ft) spot size and 10 cm (3.9 in) vertical resolution at 200 km (120 mi) intended for studying topography of icy moons and tidal deformations of Ganymede.
An ice-penetrating radar working at frequency of 9 MHz (1 and 3 MHz bandwidth) emitted by a 16 m (52 ft) antenna; will be used to study the subsurface structure of Jovian moons down to 9 km (5.6 mi) depth with vertical resolution up to 30 m (98 ft) in ice.
During post-launch commissioning of the spacecraft, the RIME antenna failed to properly deploy from its mounting bracket. [35] After several weeks of attempts to free the instrument, it was successfully deployed on 12 May of the same year. [36]
JUICE will study the subsurface oceans of the icy moons and the interaction of Jovian magnetic field with the magnetic field of Ganymede using a sensitive magnetometer.
A suite of six sensors to study the magnetosphere of Jupiter and its interactions with the Jovian moons. PEP will measure positive and negative ions, electrons, exospheric neutral gas, thermal plasma and energetic neutral atoms present in all domains of the Jupiter system from 1 meV to 1 MeV energy.
RPWI will characterise the plasma environment and radio emissions around the spacecraft, it is composed of four experiments: GANDALF, MIME, FRODO and JENRAGE. RPWI will use four Langmuir probes, each one mounted at the end of its own dedicated boom and sensitive up to 1.6 MHz, to characterize plasma, and receivers in the frequency range 80 kHz to 45 MHz to measure radio emissions. [37] This scientific instrument is somewhat notable for using Sonic the Hedgehog as part of its logo. [38] [39]
3GM is a radio science package comprising a Ka transponder and an ultrastable oscillator. [40] 3GM will be used to study the gravity field – up to degree 10 – at Ganymede and the extent of internal oceans on the icy moons, and to investigate the structure of the neutral atmospheres and ionospheres of Jupiter (0.1 – 800 mbar) and its moons. 3GM carries Israeli-built atomic clock "that will measure tiny vacillations in a radio beam". [41] [42]
The experiment will generate specific signals transmitted by JUICE's antenna and received by very-long-baseline interferometry to perform precision measurements of the gravity fields of Jupiter and its icy moons.
Galileo was an American robotic space program that studied the planet Jupiter and its moons, as well as several other Solar System bodies. Named after the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, the Galileo spacecraft consisted of an orbiter and an atmospheric entry probe. It was delivered into Earth orbit on October 18, 1989, by Space ShuttleAtlantis on the STS-34 mission, and arrived at Jupiter on December 7, 1995, after gravity assist flybys of Venus and Earth, and became the first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter. The spacecraft then launched the first probe to directly measure its atmosphere. Despite suffering major antenna problems, Galileo achieved the first asteroid flyby, of 951 Gaspra, and discovered the first asteroid moon, Dactyl, around 243 Ida. In 1994, Galileo observed Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9's collision with Jupiter.
Callisto, or Jupiter IV, is the second-largest moon of Jupiter, after Ganymede. In the Solar System it is the third-largest moon after Ganymede and Saturn's largest moon Titan, and as large as the smallest planet Mercury. Callisto is, with a diameter of 4,821 km, roughly a third larger than Earth's Moon and orbits Jupiter on average at a distance of 1,883,000 km, which is about six times further out than the Moon orbiting Earth. It is the outermost of the four large Galilean moons of Jupiter, which were discovered in 1610 with one of the first telescopes, being visible from Earth with common binoculars.
Europa, or Jupiter II, is the smallest of the four Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter, and the sixth-closest to the planet of all the 95 known moons of Jupiter. It is also the sixth-largest moon in the Solar System. Europa was discovered independently by Simon Marius and Galileo Galilei and was named after Europa, the Phoenician mother of King Minos of Crete and lover of Zeus.
Ganymede, or Jupiter III, is the largest and most massive natural satellite of Jupiter and in the Solar System. It is the largest Solar System object without a substantial atmosphere, despite being the only moon in the Solar System with a substantial magnetic field. Like Titan, Saturn's largest moon, it is larger than the planet Mercury, but has somewhat less surface gravity than Mercury, Io, or the Moon due to its lower density compared to the three.
The Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) was a proposed NASA spacecraft designed to explore the icy moons of Jupiter. The main target was Europa, where an ocean of liquid water may harbor alien life. Ganymede and Callisto, which are now thought to also have liquid, salty oceans beneath their icy surfaces, were also targets of interest for the probe.
Juno is a NASA space probe orbiting the planet Jupiter. It was built by Lockheed Martin and is operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on August 5, 2011 UTC, as part of the New Frontiers program. Juno entered a polar orbit of Jupiter on July 5, 2016, UTC, to begin a scientific investigation of the planet. After completing its mission, Juno was originally planned to be intentionally deorbited into Jupiter's atmosphere, but has since been approved to continue orbiting until contact is lost with the spacecraft.
The exploration of Jupiter has been conducted via close observations by automated spacecraft. It began with the arrival of Pioneer 10 into the Jovian system in 1973, and, as of 2023, has continued with eight further spacecraft missions in the vicinity of Jupiter. All of these missions were undertaken by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and all but two were flybys taking detailed observations without landing or entering orbit. These probes make Jupiter the most visited of the Solar System's outer planets as all missions to the outer Solar System have used Jupiter flybys. On 5 July 2016, spacecraft Juno arrived and entered the planet's orbit—the second craft ever to do so. Sending a craft to Jupiter is difficult, mostly due to large fuel requirements and the effects of the planet's harsh radiation environment.
The Europa Jupiter System Mission – Laplace (EJSM-Laplace) was a proposed joint NASA/ESA uncrewed space mission slated to launch around 2020 for the in-depth exploration of Jupiter's moons with a focus on Europa, Ganymede and Jupiter's magnetosphere. The mission would have comprised at least two independent elements, NASA's Jupiter Europa Orbiter (JEO) and ESA's Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter (JGO), to perform coordinated studies of the Jovian system.
The Jupiter Magnetospheric Orbiter is a cancelled space probe proposed by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), to undertake detailed in situ studies of the magnetosphere of Jupiter as a template for an astrophysical magnetised disk.
Io Volcano Observer (IVO) is a proposed low-cost mission to explore Jupiter's moon Io to understand tidal heating as a fundamental planetary process. The main science goals are to understand (A) how and where tidal heat is generated inside Io, (B) how tidal heat is transported to the surface, and (C) how Io is evolving. These results are expected to have direct implications for the thermal history of Europa and Ganymede as well as provide insights into other tidally heated worlds such as Titan and Enceladus. The IVO data may also improve our understanding of magma oceans and thus the early evolution of the Earth and Moon.
The exploration of Io, Jupiter's innermost Galilean and third-largest moon, began with its discovery in 1610 and continues today with Earth-based observations and visits by spacecraft to the Jupiter system. Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei was the first to record an observation of Io on January 8, 1610, though Simon Marius may have also observed Io at around the same time. During the 17th century, observations of Io and the other Galilean satellites helped with the measurement of longitude by map makers and surveyors, with validation of Kepler's Third Law of planetary motion, and with measurement of the speed of light. Based on ephemerides produced by astronomer Giovanni Cassini and others, Pierre-Simon Laplace created a mathematical theory to explain the resonant orbits of three of Jupiter's moons, Io, Europa, and Ganymede. This resonance was later found to have a profound effect on the geologies of these moons. Improved telescope technology in the late 19th and 20th centuries allowed astronomers to resolve large-scale surface features on Io as well as to estimate its diameter and mass.
JunoCam is the visible-light camera/telescope onboard NASA's Juno spacecraft currently orbiting Jupiter. The camera is operated by the JunoCam Digital Electronics Assembly (JDEA). Both the camera and JDEA were built by Malin Space Science Systems. JunoCam takes a swath of imaging as the spacecraft rotates; the camera is fixed to the spacecraft, so as it rotates, it gets one sweep of observation. It has a field of view of 58 degrees with four filters.
Laplace-P was a proposed orbiter and lander by the Russian Federal Space Agency designed to study the Jovian moon system and explore Ganymede with a lander.
Europa Clipper is a space probe in development by NASA. Planned for launch on 10 October 2024, the spacecraft is being developed to study the Galilean moon Europa through a series of flybys while in orbit around Jupiter. It is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission.
The timeline of the Galileo spacecraft spans its launch in 1989 to the conclusion of its mission when it dove into and destroyed itself in the atmosphere of Jupiter in 2003.
The Planetary Missions Program Office is a division of NASA headquartered at the Marshall Space Flight Center, formed by the agency's Science Mission Directorate (SMD). Succeeding the Discovery and New Frontiers Program Office, it was established in 2014 to manage the Discovery and New Frontiers programs of low and medium-cost missions by third-party institutions, and the Solar System Exploration program of NASA-led missions that focus on prioritized planetary science objectives. The Discovery and New Frontiers programs were established in 1992 and 2001 respectively, and have launched fourteen primary missions together, along with two missions launched under the administration of the Planetary Missions Program Office. The Solar System Exploration Program was established alongside the office, with three missions planned for launch under the new program.
Tianwen-4, formerly known as Gan De, is a planned Chinese interplanetary mission to study the Jovian system, possibly sharing a launch with a spacecraft which will make a flyby of Uranus.
The Planetary Exploration of China, also known as Tianwen, is the robotic interplanetary spaceflight program conducted by the China National Space Administration (CNSA). The program aims to explore planets of the Solar System, starting from Mars, and will be expanded to Jupiter and more in the future.