The ‘Ilta Sampi (一打三皮)’ project, which explores three satellites around Jupiter with a single launch, has taken its first huge step. The Jupiter Moon Exploration Spacecraft, successfully launched from a space center in French Guiana on April 14, is the star of the project.
The Jupiter satellite exploration project, which investigates three satellites with one spacecraft, is being promoted by the European Space Agency (ESA). The goal of the project is to explore Ganymede and Callisto, including the moon Europa, which often appears in science fiction films.
◇The goal of the project is to explore Jupiter’s three moons
The name of the project to explore Jupiter’s three moons is ‘JUICE’. The name Juice was created by combining the spelling of the phrase “Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer.”
Juice, the spacecraft named after the project, will take eight years to reach Jupiter. It plans to analyze the atmospheric and geological components of the satellites orbiting Jupiter and conduct exploration work to determine the presence of water. In particular, ESA is putting a lot of hope into exploration work to find traces of extraterrestrial life through the presence of water that may exist under a thick layer of ice.
All three satellites Juice’s exploration target are covered with ice, but Europa is a special moon among them. It is estimated that there is water dozens of kilometers deep under the thick ice layer, so experts believe that life is more likely than any other celestial body.
The problem is that the existence of such water has not been confirmed. Since it is difficult to observe beneath the ice, even with the most powerful telescopes, something else was needed to figure out if water existed on the unknown planet.
However, this problem was surprisingly easily solved through the results of observations made by the Hubble Space Telescope in the past. This is because water plumes rising through Europa’s icy surface have been observed by telescopes. It was a phenomenon that could not have occurred if there was no water under the ice layer.
Although the phenomenon of gushing water columns was discovered through observation, scientists are wondering whether the components of the gushing water columns are really steam made by water or some liquefied unknown substance. Therefore, scientists expect that the juice launched this time will solve such questions.
◇Utilizes only solar energy, so it has a unique flight experience
Through what process will the juice launched into space reach the three satellites in the future?
After the launched juice settled into Earth orbit, it was checked whether various equipment for exploration worked properly in space. The main equipment is equipped with a solar panel, radar, high-performance camera and near-infrared spectrometer.
Among them, the solar panel and radar attracted attention because they were specially developed equipment for this exploration. Juice’s solar panel spreads out in a cross shape. Thanks to the large solar panel of 85㎟, it was developed to perform its mission using only solar energy without borrowing nuclear power for the first time among solar system probes.
The radar, called RIME (Radar for Icy Moon Exploration), was jointly developed by researchers in Switzerland and Germany. It was built to study the geological characteristics of the three satellites and the water layer beneath the ice layer that may exist.
After completing the equipment check in Earth’s orbit, Juice has now embarked on a long journey toward Jupiter. As he moves forward using only solar energy rather than borrowing his nuclear power, Juice undergoes numerous fly-by flights to conserve his energy.
A fly-by flight is a method in which a spacecraft orbits a planet and uses gravity and centrifugal force to increase flight speed. It can accelerate speed only naturally without using fuel, but it has the disadvantage of longer flight time.
In the future, Juice will speed up through fly-by flights around the Moon, Earth, and Venus by 2029. And using the energy accumulated in this process, it will arrive around Jupiter’s moon in 2031.
The flyby flight continues even after reaching the vicinity of the satellite. Juice will orbit Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede for about three years until 2034, and will promote a total of 35 satellite fly-by flights.
For three years, Juice observes the satellites of Europa and Callisto, and finally enters 2034 and carries out a mission to explore the satellite of Ganymede. Although Ganymede is a moon, it is larger than Pluto or Mercury, making it the largest moon in the solar system. It is also known to be the only satellite of the solar system to have a magnetic field similar to that of Earth.
The reason why the Ganymede satellite exploration is Juice’s last mission is that it will orbit and gradually lower its altitude and collide with the surface of Ganymede at the last moment. Scientists expect to be able to secure the mysterious surface observation data of Jupiter’s moons during the collision process.
Written by Kim Jun-rae, science columnist
Reporter Youngjun Kim kyj85@etnews.com
