Tag: Ganymede
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As launch approaches, JUICE project manager discusses trajectories and science
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft recently arrived in French Guiana for its upcoming launch, which is currently set for April 13, 2023. JUICE is currently undergoing launch preparations in the Payload Preparation Facility at the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in Kourou, French Guiana, and will soon be mounted atop…
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JUICE arrives in French Guiana for launch, project manager outlines next steps
Set for launch from the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in Kourou, French Guiana, on April 13, 2023, the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission will aim to uncover the secrets of Jupiter’s three largest icy moons: Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa. JUICE’s suite of instruments will allow scientists to thoroughly explore and…
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NASA mission extension enables first flybys of Jupiter’s moons in 20 years
Artist’s concept of the Juno spacecraft at Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech In a pair of mission extensions, NASA has cleared the way for more seismic observations on Mars with the robotic InSight lander and approved plans for the Juno spacecraft to alter its orbit and perform close flybys of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, Ganymede, and the…
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Juno team planning close flybys of Jupiter’s moons
The puzzling, fascinating surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa looms large in this newly-reprocessed color view, made from images taken by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990s. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute NASA’s Juno spacecraft could perform the first close flybys since the early 2000s of three of Jupiter’s largest moons, including Europa, if the space…
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Scientists optimistic planetary probes won’t face coronavirus launch delays
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated to correct spelling of Hal Levison’s name. Artist’s concept of the Lucy spacecraft flying by Trojan asteroids. Credit: NASA/SWRI Launches of interplanetary missions can only depart Earth when the positions of the planets are just right, and officials managing the development of probes set for launch in 2021 and 2022 to explore asteroids…
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See Jupiter’s Galilean moons in motion from Juno’s camera
Juno’s visible camera had a bird’s-eye view of Jupiter’s four largest moons over the last few weeks, recording the satellites in their orbital ballet around the giant planet as the spacecraft approached from above Jupiter’s north pole. Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto — Jupiter’s four Galilean moons listed from the innermost to outermost — were…
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Jupiter and its satellites seen by ‘people’s camera’ on Juno probe
The JunoCam instrument on NASA’s Juno spacecraft took this picture of Jupiter and its four largest moons June 21. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS The visible camera on NASA’s Juno spacecraft is capturing a time-lapse movie of Jupiter and its four largest moons as the orbiter dives toward the giant planet for a July 4 rendezvous, and officials…
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Hubble observations reveal ocean on Ganymede
In this artist’s concept, the moon Ganymede orbits the giant planet Jupiter. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope observed aurorae on the moon controlled by Ganymede’s magnetic fields. This field is embedded in Jupiter’s own immense magnetosphere (yellow field lines). A saline ocean under the moon’s icy crust reduces shifting in the auroral belts as measured by…