Juice's journey to Jupiter: the lunar-Earth flyby

ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) will return to Earth on 19–20 August, with flight controllers guiding the spacecraft first past the Moon and then past Earth itself. This ‘braking’ manoeuvre will take Juice on a shortcut to Jupiter via Venus.

This infographic presents some facts about the flyby:

• First-ever lunar-Earth flyby
• First-ever double gravity assist
• Brings Juice one step closer to Jupiter
• Saves a huge amount of propellant
• Ensures extra science at Ganymede
• Requires ultra-precise, real-time navigation
• Lines Juice up for a Venus flyby
• Inherently risky

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[Image description: Infographic with Juice's trajectory through the Solar System in the middle. Along the bottom is a timeline of key milestones in the Juice mission; the lunar-Earth flyby of August 2024 is circled in red. On the left we see some facts about the flyby.]