It’s a juice odyssey: A new exploration of Jupiter’s icy moons is underway!

The European Space Agency (ESA) has launched the Juice (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) mission which will explore the atmosphere, magnetosphere and three of Jupiter’s icy moons, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. This mission will give us the first true insight into the mysteries of these icy moons, and answer questions such as, what drives the intense volcanic activity on Ganymede, and what secrets do Europa’s subsurface oceans hold?

Juice will take 8 years to complete its journey to Jupiter. During this time, it will make a close flyby of Venus and Earth to help it pick up the speed required to reach its destination. Once it arrives, it will spend three years examining the Jupiter system, making detailed observations of the planets and moons, before entering a long-term orbit around Ganymede.

This is a historic mission - the first of its kind to explore the icy moons of our solar system. With Juice, we are sure to unlock the secrets that these mysterious worlds have been keeping from us for so long.

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source: Phys.org