ESA mission to Jupiter's moons gets go ahead

Pixel42 · 2nd May 2012, 12:10 PM

Esa selects 1bn-euro Juice probe to Jupiter

Quote:

The European Space Agency (Esa) is to mount a billion-euro mission to Jupiter and its icy moons.

The probe, called Juice, has just been approved at a meeting of member state delegations in Paris.

It would be built in time for a launch in 2022, although it would be a further eight years before it reached the Jovian system.

The mission has emerged from a five-year-long competition to find the next "large class" space venture in Europe.

Juice stands for JUpiter ICy moon Explorer. The concept proposes an instrument-packed, nearly five-tonne satellite to be sent out to the Solar System's biggest planet, to make a careful investigation of three of its biggest moons.

The spacecraft would use the gravity of Jupiter to initiate a series of close fly-bys around Callisto and Europa, and then finally to put itself in a settled orbit around Ganymede.

Emphasis would be put on "habitability" - in trying to understand whether there is any possibility that these moons could host microbial life.

Callisto, Europa and Ganymede are all suspected to have oceans of water below their icy surfaces. As such, they may have environments conducive to simple biology.

Awesome.

SonOfLaertes · 2nd May 2012, 12:20 PM

Bravo! I myself think that this should be a NASA priority as well - land a sophisticated robotic explorer, perhaps even a borer of some kind, on Europa.

Mark6 · 2nd May 2012, 01:59 PM

What were the competing missions?

edd · 2nd May 2012, 02:00 PM

Well we knew ESA was going to do something. It's obviously great to see a space mission but there's a few people I've heard who are feeling sore about one or the other of the missions not making the cut. Spare a moment to think of them

(eLISA/NGO - a gravitational wave observatory, and Athena - an X-ray observatory are the missions that won't be happening as mentioned in the article)

steve s · 2nd May 2012, 02:05 PM

This sucks. I'll be 65 when this thing finally gets to Jupiter. I was hoping to live long enough to see the day when we've got a probe swimming around in the oceans of Europa.

Steve S

rjh01 · 2nd May 2012, 03:35 PM

Great. I want to know how much difference it will make to society what we learn from the data that is sent back. We can answer this question by looking at what happened with the data from other similar space probes.

Multivac · 3rd May 2012, 03:43 AM

This is great news. We need to learn more about the outer reaches of our solar system.

edd · 3rd May 2012, 06:29 AM

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/...ked-for-launch
(via http://telescoper.wordpress.com/ )

Mark6 · 3rd May 2012, 07:04 AM

I noticed the eight years flight time. That's longer than Galileo, in fact longer than Cassini spent getting to Saturn. I googled for JUICE trajectory, and found this:

http://www.lpi.usra.edu/pss/dec2011/...JoanSalute.pdf

Gravity assists are Earth-Venus-Earth-Earth. No wonder it will take 8 years!

2nd May 2012, 12:10 PM	#1
Pixel42 Schrödinger's cat Join Date: May 2004 Location: Wiltshire, UK Posts: 4,239	ESA mission to Jupiter's moons gets go ahead Esa selects 1bn-euro Juice probe to Jupiter Quote: The European Space Agency (Esa) is to mount a billion-euro mission to Jupiter and its icy moons. The probe, called Juice, has just been approved at a meeting of member state delegations in Paris. It would be built in time for a launch in 2022, although it would be a further eight years before it reached the Jovian system. The mission has emerged from a five-year-long competition to find the next "large class" space venture in Europe. Juice stands for JUpiter ICy moon Explorer. The concept proposes an instrument-packed, nearly five-tonne satellite to be sent out to the Solar System's biggest planet, to make a careful investigation of three of its biggest moons. The spacecraft would use the gravity of Jupiter to initiate a series of close fly-bys around Callisto and Europa, and then finally to put itself in a settled orbit around Ganymede. Emphasis would be put on "habitability" - in trying to understand whether there is any possibility that these moons could host microbial life. Callisto, Europa and Ganymede are all suspected to have oceans of water below their icy surfaces. As such, they may have environments conducive to simple biology. Awesome.
	__________________ "The correct scientific response to anything that is not understood is always to look harder for the explanation, not give up and assume a supernatural cause". David Attenborough.

2nd May 2012, 12:20 PM	#2
SonOfLaertes Muse Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: The Area 51 Motel 6 Room 12 Bed 2 Pillow1 Posts: 781	Bravo! I myself think that this should be a NASA priority as well - land a sophisticated robotic explorer, perhaps even a borer of some kind, on Europa.
	__________________ Best concise summary of Intelligent Design's never-changing key argument: “ the improbability of assembly of functional sequence all at once from scratch by brute chance” (Nick Matske, Panda's Thumb).

2nd May 2012, 01:59 PM	#3
Mark6 Illuminator Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 4,176	What were the competing missions?
Mark6 Illuminator Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 4,176	__________________ Gamemaster: "A horde of rotting zombies is shambling toward you. The sign over the door says 'Accounting'"

2nd May 2012, 02:00 PM	#4
edd Graduate Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 1,556	Well we knew ESA was going to do something. It's obviously great to see a space mission but there's a few people I've heard who are feeling sore about one or the other of the missions not making the cut. Spare a moment to think of them (eLISA/NGO - a gravitational wave observatory, and Athena - an X-ray observatory are the missions that won't be happening as mentioned in the article)
edd Graduate Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 1,556	__________________ When I look up at the night sky and think about the billions of stars out there, I think to myself: I'm amazing. - Peter Serafinowicz

2nd May 2012, 02:05 PM	#5
steve s Illuminator Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 3,661	This sucks. I'll be 65 when this thing finally gets to Jupiter. I was hoping to live long enough to see the day when we've got a probe swimming around in the oceans of Europa. Steve S
steve s Illuminator Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 3,661	__________________ "Nature abhors a moron." -- H. L. Mencken

2nd May 2012, 03:35 PM	#6
rjh01 Gentleman of leisure Tagger Join Date: May 2005 Location: Planet Earth Posts: 17,184	Great. I want to know how much difference it will make to society what we learn from the data that is sent back. We can answer this question by looking at what happened with the data from other similar space probes.
	__________________ dddffffpppqqqq Want to use your computer for something that will make society better? See this thread for details Folding@home

3rd May 2012, 03:43 AM	#7
Multivac Graduate Poster Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 1,933	This is great news. We need to learn more about the outer reaches of our solar system.

3rd May 2012, 06:29 AM	#8
edd Graduate Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 1,556	http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/...ked-for-launch (via http://telescoper.wordpress.com/ )
edd Graduate Poster Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 1,556	__________________ When I look up at the night sky and think about the billions of stars out there, I think to myself: I'm amazing. - Peter Serafinowicz

3rd May 2012, 07:04 AM	#9
Mark6 Illuminator Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 4,176	I noticed the eight years flight time. That's longer than Galileo, in fact longer than Cassini spent getting to Saturn. I googled for JUICE trajectory, and found this: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/pss/dec2011/...JoanSalute.pdf Gravity assists are Earth-Venus-Earth-Earth. No wonder it will take 8 years!
Mark6 Illuminator Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 4,176	__________________ Gamemaster: "A horde of rotting zombies is shambling toward you. The sign over the door says 'Accounting'"