Thermal insulation installation

Installation of multi-layered thermal insulation on the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice). There are around 500 such ‘blankets’ installed, ranging from the single aluminised polyester foil to the external multi-layered insulation, comprising 25 layers of polyimide. The total mass of the thermal insulation alone is 100 kg, several times greater than other ESA spacecraft to account for the extreme environment Juice will experience.

Juice will make detailed observations of Jupiter and its three large ocean-bearing moons – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa – with a suite of remote sensing, geophysical and in situ instruments. The mission will investigate the emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants and the Jupiter system as an archetype for the numerous giant exoplanets now known to orbit other stars.