(CNN) – The European Space Agency has sent a spacecraft to explore Jupiter and three of its largest and most interesting moons. The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer mission, or Juice, launched Friday at 8:14 a.m. ET aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Kourou spaceport in French Guiana.
The spacecraft separated from the Ariane 5 rocket 28 minutes after launch. Over the next 17 days, Juice will deploy its solar arrays, antennas and other instruments, followed by three months of hardware setup and testing.
The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or Juice, mission was scheduled to lift off Thursday at 8:15 a.m. Miami time aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from European spaceport Kourou in French Guiana. But Lightning delayed the launch, which has been rescheduled for Friday at 8:14 a.m. Miami time.
Weather conditions often cause launch delays and delays. In order for the rockets to take off safely, specific weather criteria must be met. The James Webb Space Telescope, which launched aboard Ariane 5 from the same location in December 2021, has also suffered similar delays due to adverse weather conditions around Kourou.
Two years ago, kids from all over the world shared artwork inspired by Juice. The artwork of ten-year-old Yarina won the competition to become the mission logo and was added to the nose of the rocket carrying juice. Credit: European Space Agency
It will take the juice eight years to reach Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. During its long journey, the spacecraft will use some gravitational waves as it passes the Earth, Moon and Venus to make the journey easier.
Once Juice reaches Jupiter in July 2031, the spacecraft will spend about three and a half years orbiting the gas giant and flying by three of its moons: Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa. Towards the end of the mission, Juice will focus solely on orbiting Ganymede, making it the first spacecraft to orbit a moon in the outer solar system.
One illustration depicts a smoothie on its way to Jupiter. Credit: European Space Agency.
Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa are ice-covered worlds that could contain subterranean oceans that could be habitable.
For its part, NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, which will launch in 2024, is expected to reach Jupiter in April 2030 and make about 50 flybys of Europa, only 25 kilometers (16 miles) from the surface of that moon.
Together, both missions could reveal some of the biggest mysteries about Jupiter and its moons.
Close to the king of the solar system
Exploration of Jupiter began with NASA’s Pioneer and Voyager missions in the 1970s, followed by missions dedicated to Jupiter such as Galileo and the Juno probe. Juno has been orbiting Jupiter and has been flying near some of its moons since 2016.
The main goal of the Juno mission is to describe the three icy moons and determine if they contain oceans, as well as discover the properties that make Ganymede unique and determine if these moons are habitable. The mission will use a set of 10 tools to achieve these goals.
Planetary scientists want to know how deep the oceans are, whether they contain salt water or fresh water, and how that water interacts with the ice cap of each moon. Ganymede, Callisto and Europa also have different surfaces. The Juice mission could explain the activity that results in the dark, dull, or streaky appearance of some moons.
Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system, larger than Pluto and Mercury, and the only one with a magnetic field similar to Earth’s. Instruments on Juice can reveal Jupiter’s moon’s rotation, gravity, shape, interior, and composition, as well as look at its icy shell using radar.
An artist’s rendering shows the Juice mission flying over Ganymede, with Jupiter in the background. Credit: European Space Agency
Juice will analyze Jupiter and its moons to understand how radiation and the magnetic environment influence their formation. Understanding Jupiter’s origin may help scientists apply their findings to planets similar to the gas giant.
Jupiter’s magnetic field is 20 times stronger than Earth’s, and its radiation environment is very harsh, affecting its moons. The Juice mission will investigate the interaction between Jupiter and its moons, including aurora borealis, hotspots, radio emissions, and waves of charged particles.
life potential
Although all three moons are surrounded by thick layers of ice, the cores of each can heat up, and that heat could make the inner oceans possible habitats for past or present life.
Smoothies can search the moons for evidence of the building blocks of life, including elements like carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, iron and magnesium.
Previous missions to Saturn, such as Galileo and Cassini, confirmed the existence of liquid water on planets and moons far from the sun, as well as the possible existence of ground water.
“I think that [la misión] “Our knowledge of where to look for potential habitats has changed over the past 20 years,” confirms Michelle Dougherty, Royal Society Research Professor at Imperial College London and principal investigator of the succulent magnetometer.
Life, as we understand it on Earth, Dougherty says, requires liquid water, a heat source, and organic matter, “and then those first three ingredients have to be stable enough for long enough for something to happen.”
The Juice mission will fly over the moon Europa twice. Credit: European Space Agency
“with [la] Juice, we want to make sure that there is liquid water on these moons, and find out their heat sources. Other elements will also be able to remotely detect if there is organic matter on the surface. It’s about bringing all of these components together,” he explains.
Jupiter survive
The truck-sized ship, the Juice, is built to withstand the long journey to Jupiter and its harsh conditions. Two cross-shaped solar panels will power the ship and lead chambers will protect its most sensitive electronic components.
The mission, which is led by the European Space Agency (ESA), includes contributions from NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Testing and modeling Jupiter’s radiation belts allowed engineers to prepare for what Juice would encounter.
“The main achievement of this model for us was demonstrating that what initially appeared to be a dangerous place was not completely out of reach,” Christian Aird, spacecraft and system manager at Jos, said in a statement. “About three and a half years on Jupiter would result in radiation exposure comparable to that of a communications satellite in geostationary orbit for 20 years, something we have a lot of experience managing.”
Juice’s mission may investigate why the surface of every moon of Jupiter, like Callisto, is different. Credit: European Space Agency.
To help Juice survive, her journey is designed to pass Callisto 21 times and Europa only twice. Europa is the closest moon to Jupiter and lies within the radiation halo. Just two orbits of that moon would result in a spacecraft one-third of its total radiation exposure.
Some of Juice’s tools are protected, while others will be exposed to the elements to explore Jupiter’s atmospheres and moons. Multiple images and sensors will capture and transmit data in different wavelengths.
Given the final distance between the spacecraft and Earth, it would take 45 minutes to send a one-way signal to Jupiter. But that’s nothing compared to the years it would take Juice to reach Jupiter.
Scientists are already anticipating the unique data that the Juice mission will produce.
“I think the most important moment is the first flight of Ganymede,” says Dougherty. “The first flight or two is when we’ll confirm the ocean’s presence.”
CNN’s Katie Hunt contributed to this report.
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