The European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUS) began its journey through the Jupiter system on April 14, 2023, exploring our solar system’s largest planet and its icy moons Callisto, Ganymede and Europa. Nearly a year and a half after launch, a delicate double maneuver is now imminent on August 19 and 20, 2024: the first time a space probe will use Earth’s moon and, shortly thereafter, a second celestial body – our Earth – to change course. The Graz Institute for Space Research (IWF) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) is involved in a total of three instruments and is looking forward to this moment together with its project partner at TU Graz.
A direct flight to Jupiter is not possible
In total, JUICE will travel for eight years before the spacecraft reaches the Jupiter system in July 2031. JUICE will need to complete several flybys of the Moon, Earth and Venus to make the necessary trajectory changes and achieve high speeds. More than half of the 5.2-ton launch vehicle’s weight is fuel, which JUICE must use until the mission is complete. A complex flight path with multiple flybys is a necessary compromise to save fuel. JUICE is the first space probe to make a joint flyby near the Moon and Earth in what is known as a gravity-assist maneuver.
JUICE celebrates its world premiere
On August 19 and 20, 2024, the JUICE spacecraft will take a step closer to Jupiter by harnessing the Moon’s gravity and then warping Earth through space. In the first phase of the Moon-Earth flyby, JUICE will come within 700 kilometers of the Moon on August 19 at 11:16 p.m. This lunar flyby must be carried out with such precision that Earth’s orbital correction, at a distance of less than 7,000 kilometers, can be achieved after about 24 hours, shortly before midnight on August 20. With this daring double maneuver, the juice is diverted toward Venus—an inner solar system crosswalk that significantly reduces the overall travel time to Jupiter.
A new quantum interference magnetometer
Together with the Institute of Experimental Physics at TU Graz, IWF developed the novel quantum interference magnetometer MAGSCA, which combines two conventional fluxgate sensors to form the magnetometer J-MAG. J-MAG was developed in collaboration with Imperial College London, which has overall management, and TU Braunschweig to specifically study the oceans beneath the icy surfaces of Jupiter’s moons. All three sensors are mounted on a 10.5 m long boom (magnetometer boom). MAGSCA is on the cusp of an ascent.
Juice in the Earth’s magnetic field
Immediately after its launch in April 2023, MAGSCA was found to have improved its speed and become fully functional. Two more operational tests took place in January and July 2024, in accordance with the operational and test specifications of the JUICE space probe. This was done by measuring the interstellar magnetic field of a few nanoseconds in size. “Our sensor plays an important role in the calibration of the overall magnetometer,” says the IWF team leader Werner Magnus. During the Earth flyby on August 20, the JUICE spacecraft will dive deeper into Earth’s magnetic field and increase readings to more than 4,000 nanotzla. “This is a factor of a thousand larger than previous checks, and enables a perfect simulation of the field conditions we will later find in orbit around Jupiter’s moon Ganymede,” it explains. magnet.
More accurate measurements from MAGSCA
“This means that the interactions of the three J-MAG sensors can be read in detail,” it asserts Roland LammacherProject Manager for MAGSCA at the Institute of Experimental Physics at Graz University of Technology. The direction of the Earth’s magnetic field, measured in flight, is well known by models. This helps determine the correct alignment of the fluxgate sensors on very long mounts. MAGSCA also provides a more accurate measurement of the magnitude of the magnetic field. Sensors therefore play an important role in the calibration of the overall magnetometer. “This not only provides an extended test of the performance of the Cross Quantum Interference Sensor, but also allows us to examine and control in detail the interactions of the three J-MAG sensors, which are essential for the measurement accuracy required in the Jupiter system,” emphasizes Lammacher.
Financing of equipment
The development, construction and operation of scientific instruments is made possible by the Austrian Research Development Agency (FFG) Aerospace Agency (ALR) through ESA’s PRODEX selection program and the ASAP national space program. ESA and ASAP funds are provided by the Union Ministry of Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology. Complementary funding of the instruments was made possible by OeAW and TU Graz, whose responsible ministry is the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research.
Why Space Exploration Matters – The Juice
The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUS) is a European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft that began its journey into the Jupiter system on April 14, 2023, to find the largest planet in our Solar System and its icy moons—Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa—that could be the requisites for life.
Juice will explore their hidden ocean reservoirs, map their ice caps and explore their interior. Although their oceans are of central interest to Juice, each moon is interesting in its own right: Callisto is an ancient world that represents the early Jupiter system, Europa projects a young and active surface into space, and Ganymede is not only the largest moon. in the solar system, but creates its own magnetic field.
Educate future scientists
Larger missions to the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn and the ice giants Uranus and Neptune are essential to understanding these individual celestial bodies and the formation of the Solar System. This research is essential to answering the question of planetary species diversity within and beyond our home planet system. “In this way, the IMF makes a significant contribution to the training of future scientists and engineers,” says the IWF director. Christian Helling. Giant planets and their moons was the topic of the Albach Summer School 2024, where several speakers and teachers from the IWF assisted the students and provided basic knowledge. “In this way, the Cross Space Institute is making a significant contribution to training a generation of scientists and engineers who will evaluate and use JUICE data in the years of scientific return,” says IWF Director Christian Helling.
