By 
August 3rd, 2024
Image credit: ESA
Pressure is mounting.
Flight controllers are putting the squeeze on to ring out science from a spacecraft called Juice – the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer.
Later this month, that probe will zip by the Moon and pass within the altitude of satellites in geostationary and medium-Earth orbits.
For a select set of viewers with powerful binoculars or telescopes here on Earth, Juice should be observable as the spacecraft passes overhead, flying directly over Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean.
Image credit: ESA
Double dipping, trajectory bending
The outward going Juice mission to Jupiter is making a lunar-Earth flyby – the first ever double gravity assist by a spacecraft.
Juice was launched by the European Space Agency in April 2023, slated to arrive at Jupiter in July 2031. But to get to its destination, double dipping, trajectory bending maneuvers are set to take place on August 19 and 20.
Juice’s trajectory through space and time will redirect it on a course for a flyby of Venus in August 2025, then onto its Jupiter arrival some six years later.
Test environment
ESA’s ground controllers have already adjusted Juice’s path to ensure that it arrives first at the Moon, then a day later at Earth.
Image credit: ESA
Image credit: ESA
As Juice passes by the Moon and Earth, ESA will be activating the spacecraft’s ten science instruments.
The Moon-Earth flyby provides a “prime test environment” for instrument teams to collect and analyze data from an actual surface in space for the first time. It will give scientists and engineers the chance to calibrate instruments, smooth out any remaining issues, “and who knows, they may even make some surprising scientific discoveries,” an ESA statement suggests.
Static on the line: RIME and reason
One Juice payload, the Radar for Icy Moon Exploration (RIME) instrument, is already known to be disturbed by some electronic noise within the spacecraft. During the closest approach to the Moon, RIME will observe alone, as the other instruments are to be either switched off or set to quiet mode.
Based on the RIME output, that instrument team can work on an algorithm to correct the noise problem.
Juice is an ESA-led mission to the Jupiter system to make detailed observations of gas giant Jupiter and its three large ocean-bearing moons – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.
Image credit: ESA
RIME has been a trouble-maker post-launch. Weeks of work were needed to successfully deploy the experiment’s folded-up antenna – an over 50-foot (16-meter)-long boom.
Meanwhile, Juice’s two onboard monitoring cameras will be snaring photos throughout the lunar-Earth flyby, promising to supply eye-catching imagery.
To keep your eye on the whereabouts of Juice, go to:
Posted in Space News
