A Jupiter probe recently completed the first double flyby of Earth, taking beautiful images of the Moon and Earth on a quick short flight through the inner solar system.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has released footage of JUICE’s Moon-Earth flyby, which saw the spacecraft head towards Venus en route to the Jupiter system. The 1.5-minute video shows JUICE approaching the Moon and flying past its cratered surface into the darkness of space before the blue hue of Earth appears in frame.
JUpiter ICy Moons Explorer (JUICE) performed the risky maneuver on August 19 and 20, using the gravity of the moon and Earth to send it on a route toward Venus. “The gravity-assisted flyby went flawlessly, everything went smoothly and we were thrilled to see JUICE return so close to Earth,” said Ignacio Tanco, JUICE spacecraft operations manager, in a statement.
The footage was captured by JUICE’s two surveillance cameras, which monitor the spacecraft’s booms and antennas. The Moon-Earth flyby also provided ground control with an opportunity to test JUICE’s science instruments. All “ten were on during the Moon flyby and eight during the Earth flyby.”
“The timing and location of this double flyby allows us to thoroughly study the behavior of Juice’s instruments,” said Claire Vallat, JUICE operations scientist, in a statement. “It occurs early enough in Juice’s journey that we can use the data to prepare the instruments for arrival at Jupiter. And because we know the physical properties of the Earth, the Moon and the surrounding space environment so well, this is also the ideal place to understand how the instruments respond to a real target.”
The spacecraft is on an eight-year journey to Jupiter to study its icy moons for signs of habitability. JUICE used the gravity of the moon and Earth to change its speed and direction, altering its trajectory. The flyby of the moon increased the spacecraft’s speed by 0.9 kilometers per second relative to the sun, which led the spacecraft toward Earth. After the close encounter with Earth, JUICE’s speed relative to the sun decreased by 4.8 kilometers per second, which led it on a new trajectory toward Venus.
The spacecraft will orbit Venus in August 2025 before returning to Earth. After that, JUICE will make two more flybys of its home planet, one in September 2026 and another in January 2029. JUICE’s maneuvers through the solar system are designed to put it on the right course and help it reach the right speed to enter Jupiter’s orbit in 2031.
JUICE launched in April 2023 from the European spaceport in French Guiana. Just hours after launch, the spacecraft captured the first moments of its 12-year mission dedicated to exploring three icy moons of Jupiter: Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
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