Artist impressions of ESA’s JUICE spacecraft on Jupiter
ESA/NASA/DLR
The European Space Agency (ESA) is sending an orbiter to explore Jupiter’s strange moon. The Jupiter Icy Moon Orbiter (JUICE) is scheduled to launch from Kourou, French Guiana, on her April 13th, beginning her eight-year journey to Jupiter.
The orbiter is designed to explore three of Jupiter’s largest moons: Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. The first phase of her mission from 2031 to 2034 will pass Europa twice, Callisto nearly her 12th time, and orbit Ganymede for the remaining missions.
Ganymede may seem like an unconventional choice, but it’s generally believed that Jupiter’s small moon Europa likely has the right conditions for life. It is the largest moon in the solar system and relatively easy to reach and orbit. Like Europa and Callisto, it is thought to have a liquid ocean beneath its ice shell.
“In principle, Ganymede isn’t as interesting as Europa, but because it’s a larger moon, has water inside, and may have a magnetic field, Ganymede has a lot of mysteries to solve,” he said. said ESA’s Olivier Witas, the mission’s project scientist. “One of the big questions is whether there are places around Jupiter where habitable conditions could exist, and Ganymede is one of those places.”
A likely habitable environment lies in Ganymede’s liquid ocean, thought to be the largest in the solar system. However, we know very little about it, so we don’t know if it has the right conditions for life. JUICE will measure the position, composition and depth of water in hopes of finding enough potential to justify future missions to look for real signs of life under the ice. “If you want to find in the ocean, you have to know where the ocean is,” says Vitas.
JUICE’s ocean measurements are aided by the moon’s only magnetic field generated inside Ganymede. Magnetic field research should also help clarify the internal structure of Ganymede.
The mission also aims to map all three moons, study their icy crust composition, and look for signs of geological activity. It uses radar to penetrate the crust and measure for the first time how deep the lunar ocean is and how much the moon is underground.
Part of the purpose of this mission is to understand the potential for life around exoplanets similar to the entire Jupiter system, so JUICE will see other moons from a distance and make detailed observations of Jupiter itself. Also do These observations focus on the planet’s strong magnetic field and its effect on the Moon.
These measurements are expected to solve many mysteries about Jupiter and its moons – and if all goes well at launch, the next step will be a long wait. The stage is 2031 when we arrive at Jupiter and start our planned mission,” Witasse said. “We’re starting to get a little excited, but it’s still eight years later.”
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