Juice’s elliptical orbit around 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. A sequence of Ganymede and Callisto flybys 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. This video shows Juice entering orbit around Ganymede (in December 2034). This orbit is initially very elongated, with a closest approach of 200 km and farthest point at 10 000 km. Due to the strong effect of Jupiter’s gravity, the shape of the orbit will change over time to become circular at a steady altitude of 5 000 km. At the end of this phase, the orbits becomes elliptical again, ultimately allowing for the transfer to the low altitude circular orbit at 500 km.

Ganymede is unique in the Solar System in that it is the only moon to have a magnetosphere. Juice will investigate this phenomenon and the moon’s internal magnetic field, and explore how its plasma environment interacts with that of Jupiter. Juice will also study Ganymede’s atmosphere, surface, subsurface, interior and internal ocean, investigating the moon as not only a planetary object but also a possible habitat.

Watch the full sequence of Juice’s journey to, and tour of, Jupiter and its icy moons.

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