JUICE
21 February 2013
The JUpiter ICy moons Explorer mission, JUICE, will carry a total of 11
scientific experiments to study the gas giant planet and its large
ocean-bearing moons, ESA announced today.
JUICE is the first Large-class mission in ESA’s Cosmic Vision 2015–2025
programme. Planned for launch in 2022 and arrival at Jupiter in 2030, it
will spend at least three years making detailed observations of the
biggest planet in the Solar System and three of its largest moons,
Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.
These moons are thought to harbour vast water oceans beneath their icy
surfaces and JUICE will map their surfaces, sound their interiors and
assess their potential for hosting life in their oceans.
Today, ESA’s Science Programme Committee approved a complement of
instruments that includes cameras and spectrometers, a laser altimeter
and an ice-penetrating radar. The mission will also carry a
magnetometer, plasma and particle monitors, and radio science hardware.
The instruments will be developed by scientific teams from 15 European
countries, the US and Japan, through corresponding national funding.
“The selection of JUICE’s instruments is a key milestone in ESA’s
flagship mission to the outer Solar System, which represents an
unprecedented opportunity to showcase leading European technological and
scientific expertise,” says Alvaro Giménez Cañete, ESA’s Director of
Science and Robotic Exploration.
“The suite of instruments addresses all of the mission’s science goals,
from in-situ measurements of Jupiter’s vast magnetic field and plasma
environment, to remote observations of the surfaces and interiors of the
three icy moons,” adds Luigi Colangeli, coordinator of ESA’s Solar
System Missions.
Throughout its mission, JUICE will observe Jupiter’s atmosphere and
magnetosphere, and the interaction of all four Galilean satellites – the
three icy moons plus Io – with the gas giant planet.
The spacecraft will perform a dozen flybys of Callisto, the most heavily
cratered object in the Solar System, and will fly past Europa twice in
order to make the first measurements of the thickness of its icy crust.
JUICE will end up in orbit around Ganymede, where it will study the
moon’s icy surface and internal structure, including its subsurface
ocean.
The largest moon in the Solar System, Ganymede is the only one known to
generate its own magnetic field, and JUICE will observe the unique
magnetic and plasma interactions with Jupiter’s magnetosphere in detail.
“Jupiter and its icy moons constitute a kind of mini-Solar System in
their own right, offering European scientists and our international
partners the chance to learn more about the formation of potentially
habitable worlds around other stars,” says Dmitrij Titov, ESA’s JUICE
Study Scientist.
The selection of the instruments today helps to ensure that JUICE remains on schedule for launch in 2022.
Eleven instrument suites will be developed by scientific teams from
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary,
Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, US
and Japan, through corresponding national funding.
List of selected experiments:
JANUS: Jovis, Amorum ac Natorum Undique Scrutator, camera system
MAJIS: Moons and Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer
UVS: UV Imaging Spectrograph
SWI: Sub-millimetre Wave Instrument
GALA: Ganymede Laser Altimeter
RIME: Radar for Icy Moons Exploration
J-MAG: Magnetometer for JUICE
PEP: Particle Environment Package
RPWI: Radio & Plasma Wave Investigation
3GM: Gravity & Geophysics of Jupiter and Galilean Moons
PRIDE: Planetary Radio Interferometer & Doppler Experiment (note this does not include spacecraft hardware but will exploit VLBI – Very Large Base Interferometry – to conduct radio science)
For further information, please contact:
Markus Bauer
ESA Science and Robotic Exploration Communication Officer
Tel: +31 71 565 6799
Mob: +31 61 594 3 954
Email: markus.bauer@esa.int
Luigi Colangeli
Head of ESA’s Solar System Missions Division and Coordinator of Solar System Missions
Email: luigi.colangeli@esa.int
Dmitrij Titov
ESA’s JUICE Study Scientist
Email: dmitri.titov@esa.int
JANUS: Jovis, Amorum ac Natorum Undique Scrutator, camera system
MAJIS: Moons and Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer
UVS: UV Imaging Spectrograph
SWI: Sub-millimetre Wave Instrument
GALA: Ganymede Laser Altimeter
RIME: Radar for Icy Moons Exploration
J-MAG: Magnetometer for JUICE
PEP: Particle Environment Package
RPWI: Radio & Plasma Wave Investigation
3GM: Gravity & Geophysics of Jupiter and Galilean Moons
PRIDE: Planetary Radio Interferometer & Doppler Experiment (note this does not include spacecraft hardware but will exploit VLBI – Very Large Base Interferometry – to conduct radio science)
For further information, please contact:
Markus Bauer
ESA Science and Robotic Exploration Communication Officer
Tel: +31 71 565 6799
Mob: +31 61 594 3 954
Email: markus.bauer@esa.int
Luigi Colangeli
Head of ESA’s Solar System Missions Division and Coordinator of Solar System Missions
Email: luigi.colangeli@esa.int
Dmitrij Titov
ESA’s JUICE Study Scientist
Email: dmitri.titov@esa.int
ESA
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
ayabaca@gmail.com
ayabaca@hotmail.com
ayabaca@yahoo.com
