Topic: [Discuss] Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE)
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 52929 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 04-12-2023 10:37 PM
Please use this topic to discuss the European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE), which will seek out habitable environments on the gas giant's three largest satellites, Callisto, Europa and Ganymede.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 52929 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 04-12-2023 10:39 PM
From the European Space Agency
We're going to Jupiter – and three of its moons! The JUICE spacecraft is now securely fastened to an Ariane 5 rocket and ready for launch.
JUICE, for Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, will explore Jupiter's complex environment in depth after an eight-year journey. Lift-off is expected at 14:15 CEST (8:15 a.m. EDT or 1215 GMT) on Thursday (April 13).
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 52929 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 04-13-2023 07:12 AM
Scrubbed due to weather. From Arianespace (via Twitter):
Today's Flight VA260 has been delayed due to weather condition (risk of lightning) at the scheduled liftoff time from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.
The Ariane 5 launch vehicle and its passenger JUICE are in stable and safe condition.
The new targeted launch date is April 14, 2023, at:
08:14 a.m. Washington, D.C. time,
09:14 a.m. Kourou time,
12:14 p.m. Universal time (UTC),
02:14 p.m. Paris time,
12:14 a.m., April 15, Tokyo time.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 52929 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 04-14-2023 12:00 AM
European Space Agency (ESA) live video
Follow all the action and learn more about the mission in this special programme co-produced by ESA and Arianespace.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 52929 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 04-14-2023 08:06 AM
Successful launch and acquisition of signal with the spacecraft! JUICE has begun its eight-year journey to Jupiter...
Blackarrow Member
Posts: 3742 From: Belfast, United Kingdom Registered: Feb 2002
Juice's ice-penetrating RIME antenna has not yet been deployed as planned. During the first week of commissioning, an issue arose with the 16-metre-long Radar for Icy Moons Exploration (RIME) antenna, which is preventing it from being released from its mounting bracket.
This all sounds horribly familiar. NASA engineers also had "lots of ideas up their sleeves" to free Jupiter-bound Galileo's high gain antenna. Nothing succeeded and at mission-end the antenna was still stubbornly undeployed. I wish the JUICE engineers better luck.
Blackarrow Member
Posts: 3742 From: Belfast, United Kingdom Registered: Feb 2002
posted 05-13-2023 05:28 PM
I am pleasantly surprised, and relieved, to see that the RIME antenna has now fully extended and locked into its correct position. Well done, those engineers!
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 52929 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 08-19-2024 10:17 PM
ESA video
Europe's JUICE Jupiter probe swung by the moon for a "gravity assist" on Monday (Aug. 19), and it snapped some photos to commemorate the historic encounter.
JUICE (short for Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) came within a mere 465 miles (750 kilometers) of the lunar surface on Monday evening, on the first leg of an unprecedented gravity-assist doubleheader. The second leg comes on Tuesday evening, when the probe flies by Earth.
JUICE chronicled Monday's lunar encounter with some imagery, which it captured using its two onboard monitoring cameras. And the European Space Agency (ESA) shared these photos with the world as they came down to Earth, via a live webcast that included commentary from some JUICE team members.
Headshot Member
Posts: 1328 From: Vancouver, WA, USA Registered: Feb 2012
posted 08-21-2024 10:33 AM
If anyone is curious, the portion of the Moon shown in this picture (from the update thread) shows the southern portion of Mare Fecunditatis. The large, whitish, circular crater near top center is Langrenus.
Above: ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) mission captured this view of the Moon. The image was taken by Juice monitoring camera 1 (JMC1) at 23:25 CEST on 19 August 2024, soon after Juice made its closest approach to the Moon. (ESA/Juice/JMC)
posted 04-12-2023 10:37 PM
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