Europe’s first Jupiter-bound mission is within the ultimate levels of preparations for its launch on April 13 from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
Purposeful exams and a countdown rehearsal have been efficiently accomplished forward of the launch of the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer tweets on Friday (opens in new tab) (March 10) and Saturday (opens in new tab) (March 11).
“With simply 5 weeks to go, preparations for launch are ramping up right here at @EuropeSpacePort. Quickly sufficient #ESAJuice will likely be sealed inside its protecting fairing and mounted atop this mighty @Ariane5,” ESA tweeted with a sequence of pictures from the rocket integration constructing. “Seeing the rocket taking form, it is beginning to really feel actual.”
Associated: Europe’s flagship JUICE mission will study the Jupiter moons Europa, Callisto and Ganymede.
JUICE will likely be lofted into space for its eight-year voyage by means of the solar system Ariane 5
“We’re really on the house straight now,” European aerospace big Airbus, which led the consortium that constructed the spacecraft, wrote in an emailed assertion launched on March 7. “JUICE was shipped from the Airbus manufacturing website in Toulouse, France to South America, the place it’s now present process ultimate preparations by our engineers earlier than launch on 13 April by an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana.”
If all goes effectively, the 6.6-ton (6 metric tons) spacecraft will arrive at Jupiter Ganymede Europa Callisto
Geared up with a set of 10 cutting-edge science devices, JUICE will permit scientists to check the moons, together with their inside, like by no means earlier than. The mission is predicted to make main contributions to our understanding of whether or not life may exist on these ice-covered, ocean-harboring our bodies.
JUICE will arrive at Jupiter just a few years after the tip of NASA’s Juno mission Europe Clipper alien life
The European House Company, which manages the mission, beforehand collaborated with NASA on the Cassini-Huygens Saturn
Comply with Tereza Pultarova on Twitter @TerezaPultarova (opens in new tab) . Comply with us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) and on Facebook (opens in new tab) .
