Man’s quest for Planetary habitability still remains as a matter of concern. The JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) is an interplanetary mission by the European Space Agency(ESA) purposed to study Jupiter’s Galilean moons, namely Ganymede, Callisto, Europa and henceforth to analyse its potential habitability. Scientists presume that these three contain “mighty oceans” in it. JUICE will investigate plumes expelled by Europa which is still a matter of debate. Besides, for Ganymede JUICE will explore its icy crusts, characterization of ocean layers and detection of putative subsurface water reservoirs along with inspection of Ganymede’s tenuous atmosphere. The spacecraft design is driven by the use of solar power generation, radiation environment of Jupiter and its large distance from the sun. The space probe contains a communication subsystem which ensures communication with Earth during the space mission. Moreover, the communication subsystem transponder is shielded with a metal vault to avoid damages due to radiation. Furthermore, the communication subsystem is incorporated with an Ultra Stable Oscillator(USO) and Ka-Band Transponder(KaT). The spacecraft is expected to be launched in June 2022 and will arrive at Jupiter in 2029.
– Serin Mary Binoy
Credits: ESA
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