Juice preparing to orbit Ganymede
ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, Juice, is set to embark on an eight-year cruise to Jupiter starting April 2023. The mission will investigate the emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants and the Jupiter system as an archetype for the numerous giant planets now known to orbit other stars.
During its tour, Juice will make flybys of Jupiter’s icy moons Callisto, Europa and Ganymede. As shown here, a sequence of Ganymede and Callisto flybys (from November 2033 to December 2034) will adjust Juice’s orbit – lowering its energy and adjusting its orientation – so it can optimally enter orbit around Ganymede, making it the first spacecraft to orbit another planet’s moon.
Watch the full sequence of Juice’s journey to, and tour of, Jupiter and its icy moons.
