JUICE stands for JUpiter ICy Moons Explorer, or explorer of the icy moons of Jupiter. With this 6-ton probe, the European Space Agency (ESA) will carry out its first mission in the Jovian system. But before leaving for the Guiana Space Center and taking off there on top of Ariane 5 in April 2023, JUICE goes through Airbus Defense and Space, its manufacturer, in order to follow a final test campaign.

Lead-armored sarcophagi!

On April 5, 2022, Airbus Defense and Space invited the media to discover JUICE in the so-called Mistral room dedicated to electromagnetic compatibility tests within its facilities of Toulouse. It is a question of verifying in particular whether the 10 scientific instruments and the electronics of the probe do not produce interference between them.

The main body of the robotic explorer, with its large communication antenna (2.54 m in diameter) focuses on all eyes. Missing, for lack of space, the imposing solar panels responsible for the power supply. “We are very very far from the cells that we use on the roofs of our houses», pointed out to us Cyrille Cavel, JUICE project manager at Airbus Defense and Space. Indeed, Jupiter is much further from the Sun than the Earth and the probe’s solar panels must therefore display exceptional performance in order to produce enough electricity (their surface of 85 m2 provided 725 Watts).

Cyril Cavel, JUICE project manager at Airbus Defense and Space, in front of the probe which will leave for Jupiter next year.
Credit: Cité de l’Espace/Olivier Sanguy

Cyril Cavel adds that it was also necessary to protect these high-performance solar panels from radiation. This is because Jupiter’s intense magnetic field induces very high levels of radiation. “There are design challenges that are very important on this type of mission, and in particular radiation survival“, confirms Cyril Cavel. He clarifies as follows:We had to define the probe around what are called two sarcophagi in which we house the various flight electronics“. Lead-armored sarcophagi!

JUICE in the Mistral anechoic chamber at Airbus in Toulouse.
Credit: Cité de l’Espace/Olivier Sanguy

Once the Toulouse tests are over, JUICE of course receive its solar panels and will leave for the Guiana Space Center. It will then take off towards Jupiter in April 2023 at the top of the European launcher Ariadne 5. This will even be his last mission. For Cyril Cavel, working on such an exploration probe, “it’s absolutely not a job like any other, we have a lot of pride in all our teams at Airbus to support the European Space Agency and the European scientific community in their first adventure to Jupiter“.

A first around Ganymede

And of science it will obviously be a question once JUICE has reached its destination. Head of JUICE testing at ESA, Manuela Baroni explained to us that “the trip will be rather long, it lasts about 8 years“. The arrival around Jupiter is indeed scheduled for July 2031. However, and as its acronym (JUpiter ICy Moons Explorer) announces, this European probe will mainly scrutinize the icy moons of the gas giant and more particularly Europe and Callisto (about thirty flybys of the moons ) before registering in orbit around Ganymede. JUICE will then become the first artificial satellite of this moon.

Manuela Baroni in the Mistral room with JUICE in the background.
Credit: Cité de l’Espace/Olivier Sanguy

“Can life be supported, sheltered, within the icy moons of Jupiter, particularly Europa and Ganymede?asks Manuela Baroni to explain one of the major scientific objectives of the JUICE mission. The question comes from the fact that Europa and Ganymede have oceans of liquid water under their icy crust. Planetary scientists believe that a simple lifeof a microbial type, can develop there.
Another major objective:study the Jupiter system as a miniaturized solar systemsaid Manuela Baroni. She takes as an example the fact that Ganymede is the only moon in the Solar System to have a magnetic field. The interaction of the latter with that of Jupiter will thus allow us to better understand the Solar System and the Earth’s magnetic field.

Artist’s impression of JUICE arriving at its destination around Jupiter.
Credit: ESA