The European Space Agency launched a robotic explorer on Friday on an Ariane rocket to explore Jupiter and three of its icy moons: Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa, for a decadelong journey.
The rocket took off on Friday morning from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana on the coast of South America. It will take the spacecraft eight years to reach the solar system’s largest planet. The robotic explorer is called the JUpiter ICy moons Explorer or Juice. It will travel 4 billion miles in this mission and won't reach Jupiter until July 2031.
The massive natural satellite Ganymede is less than half the size of Earth, and much of its mass is due to the high amounts of ice and silica-based rocks. It is the only moon in our solar system to have a magnetosphere, a magnetic field capable of mitigating or blocking the effects of solar radiation or cosmic radiation, which can help protect living organisms from the detrimental effects of solar wind pressure.
While Juice is targeting Jupiter's icy moons for its exploration, there are 95 moons orbiting Jupiter.“This is a mission that is answering questions of science that are burning to all of us,” Josef Aschbacher, European Space Agency’s director general, said. “Of course, one of these questions is: Is there life out there?”
Jupiter's moon Europa is reported to have water-vapor geysers erupting into space. The Callisto moon is believed to be a possible destination for humans because of its distance from the gas giant planet's radiation belts
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European spacecraft rockets toward Jupiter and its icy moonsA European spacecraft has blasted off on a quest to explore Jupiter and three of its ice-encrusted moons. Dubbed Juice, the robotic explorer set off on an eight-year journey Friday from French Guiana in South America, launching atop an Ariane rocket. Juice is taking a long, roundabout route. It should reach Jupiter in 2031 and spend three years buzzing Callisto, Europa and Ganymede. Then it will attempt to enter orbit around Ganymede, our solar system's largest moon. The three moons are believed to harbor underground oceans, where sea life could exist. If underground seas are confirmed, ice picks and a submarine could be next up.
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European spacecraft rockets toward Jupiter and its icy moonsThe journey began with a morning liftoff by Europe’s Ariane rocket from French Guiana in South America.
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European spacecraft on way to Jupiter and its icy moonsA European spacecraft has blasted off on a quest to explore Jupiter and three of its ice-encrusted moons. Dubbed Juice, the robotic explorer set off on an eight-year journey Friday from French Guiana in South America, launching atop an Ariane rocket. Juice is taking a long, roundabout route. It should reach Jupiter in 2031 and spend three years buzzing Callisto, Europa and Ganymede. Then it will attempt to enter orbit around Ganymede, our solar system's largest moon. The three moons are believed to harbor underground oceans, where sea life could exist. If underground seas are confirmed, ice picks and a submarine could be next up.
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European spacecraft begins decade-long journey to Jupiter, its icy moonsThe Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) will take a long and winding path to Jupiter, which is 628 million kilometres (390 million miles) from Earth.
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