The European Space Agency (ESA) launched its first dedicated Juice mission to Jupiter on April 14. The launch vehicle is decorated by the baby of eight-year-old Ukrainian Yaryna Zadorozhnya.
Automatic interplanetary space station Juice will reach Jupiter by 2031. First, it will fly by Venus, return to Earth, fly by Mars, return to Earth again, and then go to Jupiter — this is a gravitational maneuver.
Juice will study three of Jupiterʼs four largest moons: Europa, Callisto and Ganymede.
The latter will receive increased attention, because it is the only one that generates its own magnetic field. In addition, Ganymede is covered with ice, and it is larger than Mercury and Pluto. Some scientists believe that an ocean of salt water may be hiding under the ice. It is this hypothesis that the Juice station will test.
Long before the launch, back in 2021, ESA announced the Juice up your rocket! competition, the winner of which was a small Ukrainian girl. Now her drawing has gone into space with the Juice mission. Also, ESA put her picture on the screensaver on its Twitter account.
- Recently, scientists discovered 12 new moons around Jupiter. There are now 92, more than any other planet in the Solar System.