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14 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
ESA’s JUICE mission finally took off on April 14 towards Jupiter from the European spaceport of Kourou, in French Guiana.
After a 24-hour delay due to bad weather conditions, the spacecraft — the size of a pickup truck — was launched atop an Ariane 5 rocket. at 12:14 UTC.
Shortly after two minutes of flight, the rocket’s side boosters detached and a minute later the bonnet that protects the spacecraft detached. At 8 minutes the main stage of the rocket separated, and the third stage carried JUICE into its transfer orbit. Finally, the ship deployed its solar panels and established contact with ground control.
After an eight year journey, JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer), will make detailed observations of the gas giant planet and its three large oceanic moons (Ganymede, Callisto and Europa) with a set of remote sensing, geophysical and in situ instruments.
The mission will explore these moons with oceans under their icy crusts as planetary objects from orbit. looking for possible habitats.
You will also take an in-depth look at Jupiter’s complex environment and study the larger Jupiter system as a archetype of gas giants throughout the Universe.
JUICE is a first in the solar system for several reasons. It will be the first time that a probe gravitates around a moon other than ours, Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest satellite. On its way to this planet, we will see for the first time an Earth-Moon gravity assist maneuver to save fuel, ESA reports.
Furthermore, it is the last ESA mission to launch aboard an Ariane 5 from Kourou, before Ariane 6 takes over at the European Spaceport.
