Europa will soon launch its first mission to Jupiter. If all goes according to plan, the spacecraft will reach Jupiter in 2031.
The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or JUICE, mission is scheduled to launch Thursday (April 13) from the Europa Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. That was in the morning. 8:15 a.m. EDT; At 1215 GMT, the spacecraft will be launched by the Ariane 5 rocket, which also launched NASA's James Webb Space Telescope.
Flybys of Venus, Earth and the Moon will be conducted to adjust JUICE's trajectory to increase speed. But to do so, the celestial bodies must align properly, which happens only twice a year, in April and August.
The weather forecast for the April 13 launch calls for cloudy skies with thundershowers. There is a 76% chance of rain and the JUICE mission team said in a briefing on Thursday (April 6) that they will continue to monitor the weather forecast, especially in the days leading up to the launch.
If the mission is somehow delayed due to weather or technical reasons, the team may try to launch JUICE again in August 2023.
10 main solar panels are operating on the JUICE spacecraft.
The JUICE spacecraft will collect data on Jupiter's magnetic field and the three Galilean moons.
After a journey of seven and a half years, the spacecraft is expected to reach the giant Jupiter in December 2031.
JUICE will make four main flybys for the entire journey to adjust its course and increase its speed without using more than 4 tons of fuel that it carries throughout the mission.
