SCIENCE

Humanity to space conquest: Juice will be launched in April, to study Jupiter's moons

As technology grows, so does mankind's desire to know and understand the secrets of our solar system. In this sense, many space missions are taking off at this time. In April, an ESA mission will set off to better study the Galilean satellites, i.e. the moons of Jupiter.

The fifth planet in the solar system, and also the largest of all, has four satellites, and three of these are icy moons. The three moons will be the object of study of this mission, to understand whether life forms could exist, or have existed, given the presence of ice and, it seems, also salt water in a liquid state. 

The mission will depart from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Let's find out more about what this mission is all about.

NASA/Freepik
Humanity to space conquest: Juice will be launched in April, to study Jupiter's moons
As technology grows, so does mankind's desire to know and understand the secrets of our solar system. In this sense, many space missions are taking off at this time. In April, an ESA mission will set off to better study the Galilean satellites, i.e. the moons of Jupiter. The fifth planet in the solar system, and also the largest of all, has four satellites, and three of these are icy moons. The three moons will be the object of study for this mission, to see if life forms could exist, or have existed, given the presence of ice and, it seems, also salt water in a liquid state. The mission will depart from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Let's find out more about what this mission is all about.
Freepik
Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system
Humanity has always been fascinated by Jupiter, the fifth planet in order of distance from the sun and the largest in the solar system. It is a gaseous, stratified planet, and if conditions had been slightly different, it might even have been a star, having a chemical composition similar to that of the Sun, with a strong presence of hydrogen and helium (the elements needed to trigger the nuclear reaction). Ancient civilisations, such as the Babylonians, Greeks and Romans, placed Jupiter at the centre of their religious beliefs, considering it the father of the gods. In a few years, we may know much more about this stellar giant.
Di Justus Sustermans - https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-14174, Pubblico dominio
Portrait of Galileo Galilei painted in 1636 by Justus Sustermans
Jupiter's four largest satellites were first discovered by the Pisan astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1610. Their names are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. The observation of these moons enabled Galileo to realise that these four objects orbited the planet Jupiter. Consequently, he realised that not all objects in the universe revolved around the Earth. This statement was a solid argument in favour of Nicolaus Copernicus' heliocentric theory.
Di stewartde - Jupiter, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6734899
Jupiter and its four Medici (Galilean) satellites
Of these four satellites, the Juice mission (an acronym for Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) aims to study three in particular. "Io is a moon full of sulphur and lava compounds and is of no interest to the study in question. Europa, Ganymede and Callisto are icy moons, and it is hoped that beneath Europa's surface lies an ocean of liquid salt water, which could theoretically make it a good candidate for hosting (or having hosted) life forms. Ganymede is the largest satellite in the solar system, while Callisto is a crater-filled body that could also host saltwater underground.
Di NASA https://web.archive.org/web/20070101114206/http://spaceprojects.arc.nasa.gov/Space_Project
Three-dimensional model of the moons of Jupiter
The mission stages are long and complex, considering that the planet is on average 700 million km from Earth. After the launch, it will take at least eight years for the mission to reach Jupiter, using four gravitational slingshots (three around the Earth and one around Venus), to obtain the necessary energy, as the solar panels will not collect much. It should reach Jupiter in July 2031; six months before entering orbit, the science phase will begin. The probe will spend several months orbiting Jupiter, completing 35 fly-bys in the orbits of Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Eventually, in 2034, it will enter the orbit of Callisto and thus become the first artificial satellite to orbit the moon of another planet.
Di NASA https://web.archive.org/web/20070101114206/http://spaceprojects.arc.nasa.gov/Space_Project
An image of the planet taken by Pioneer 10 on Dec. 1, 1973 from the distance of 2,557,000 km (NASA)
The difficulties of such a mission are obvious, both in terms of the technology required, know-how, and also in terms of patience, as the results of this work will be seen in a decade. Some of the challenges that will have to be overcome are, for example, the temperature range. In fact, the probe will have to endure temperature swings ranging from 125 °C to -230 °C (257 F to -382 F), and all its instruments must be able to withstand this temperature swing. In addition, communications will have an interval of about an hour and a half, and therefore the vehicle will have to be as autonomous as possible.
Di European Space Agency - Hubble captures crisp new image of Jupiter and Europa, CC BY 2.0, https:/
Image of Jupiter, taken by the space telescope Hubble of NASA/ESA on Aug. 25, 2020
The probe will be equipped with very high-tech instruments, many manufactured by Italian teams but not only. For example, there will be Janus, a high-resolution camera for monitoring Jupiter's atmosphere and for in-depth study of its icy moons. Majis, on the other hand, is a huge telephoto lens, allowing observation and characterization of clouds, ice and minerals on the surfaces of the three moons. The largest solar panels for an interplanetary mission have also been made, as well as many other probes that can "see" inside the icy layers of the moons.
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