Colloquium: JUICE

Colloquium JUICE

Speaker: Olivier Witasse, Juice project scientist, ESTEC

The Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer mission, 2 months after its successful launch. The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft was launched from Kourou on the 14th of April. After a perfect injection, the spacecraft is on its way to Jupiter. Eight years and four gravity assist flybys are needed to arrive at destination in July 2031. JUICE will make detailed observations of the giant gas planet and its three large ocean-bearing moons – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa – with ten powerful instruments.  Are those moons potentially habitable? How has Jupiter’s complex environment shaped its moons, and vice versa? What can the Jupiter system tell us about other solar systems being discovered elsewhere in our Universe? JUICE was built to answer these fascinating questions. Olivier Witasse, JUICE project scientist, will give an overview of the mission, its scientific objectives, its numerous challenges, its complex trajectory, and provide the latest news two months after launch.