JUICE space mission to Jupiter

About

JUICE - JUpiter ICy moons Explorer - is the first large-class mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme. Planned for launch in 2022 and arrival at Jupiter in 2029, 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.

JUICE will perform detailed investigations of Jupiter and its system in all their inter-relations and complexity with particular emphasis on Ganymede as a planetary body and potential habitat. Investigations of Europa and Callisto would complete a comparative picture of the Galilean moons.

Jupiter is the archetype for the giant planets of the Solar System and for the numerous giant planets now known to orbit other stars. Moreover, Jupiter's diverse Galilean satellites - three of which are believed to harbour internal oceans - are central to understanding the habitability of icy worlds.

JUICE spacecraft will carry the most powerful remote sensing, geophysical, and in situ payload complement ever flown to the outer Solar System.

The JUICE spacecraft will be launched in May 2022 by Ariane 5 and will use Earth-Venus-Earth-Mars-Earth gravity assists in its 7.4 years cruise to Jupiter. After the orbit insertion in October 2029 the spacecraft will perform a 3 year tour in the Jovian system focusing on observations of Jupiter's atmosphere and magnetosphere and on the three icy moons. At the end of the tour, JUICE will be set in a polar orbit around Ganymede, becoming the first spacecraft ever to enter orbit around a satellite in the outer solar system

The main spacecraft design drivers are the large distance from the sun (power availability and thermal extremes), the mission complexity in terms of demands on the navigation and propulsion system, the harsh radiation environment and the stringent electrical and magnetic cleanliness requirements.

This talk will present JUICE scientific planetary exploration objectives and the technical…