14 DAY TRIAL // Jupiter, the fifth planet from the Sun, is the biggest orb in our Solar System. In fact, scientists estimate that its mass is about two and a half times greater than that of all the other planets combined.
Known to astronomy since ancient times, this nearby gas giant has been visited by several robotic explorers over the years. The most recent probe to fly by it was the New Horizons spacecraft, which stopped to have a look at it while en route to the Pluto system.
Come 2022, the European Space Agency hopes to send yet another probe to Jupiter. The craft, dubbed Juice (short for Jupiter Icy moons Explorer), should reach the Jovian system sometime in 2030.
Once there, the Juice probe will spend three and a half years circling the orb. As part of its mission, the European Space Agency's robotic explorer will study Jupiter's atmosphere, the system of rings encompassing it and its icy moons, i.e. Ganymede, Europa and Callisto.
To complete its study of the Jovian system, Juice will be equipped with 10 research instruments, among them an ice-penetrating radar, sensors designed to detect magnetic fields and charged particles, an altimeter, spectrometers and cameras, mission scientists explain.
The probe will be assembled in Toulouse, France
Towards the end of last week, the European Space Agency announced a freshly inked €350.8 million (about $379.8 million) contract with Airbus Defense & Space. The contract, approved by the agency's Industrial Policy Committee, puts the corporation in charge of getting Juice off the ground.
The European Space Agency expects that, following the signing of this deal making Airbus Defense & Space the prime industrial contractor for its Juice mission to Jupiter, the corporation will get to work putting together the planned spacecraft by this month is over.
“This should allow work to start by the end of this month,” the space agency writes in a statement. “The contract covers the industrial activities for the design, development, integration, test, launch campaign, and in-space commissioning of the spacecraft,” it adds.
Should all go well, the Juice probe will be assembled in the city of Toulouse, in France. Even so, members of the European Space Agency are all expected to contribute to this project.
As for how the Juice probe will be launched into space and sent on its way to Jupiter and its moons, mission scientists say that they plan to commission an Ariane 5 heavy lift launch vehicle from European multinational company Arianespace.