Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology logo.
March 5, 2014
Russian scientists will construct equipment for a European Space Agency probe to Jupiter (JUICE), the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology said Wednesday.
Along with observing the solar system’s largest planet, the Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer is to visit three of the four Jovian moons discovered by Galileo: Callisto, Ganymede and Europa.
Artist's view of the JUICE spacecraft exploring the Jovian system
The spacecraft is planned to carry 11 scientific instruments, one of which will include a radiation detector built by Russia.
The detector would be the first Russian device to visit the outer solar system and will help scientists characterize wind patterns on Jupiter as well as analyze gases escaping from Europa.
According to the institute, the head of the Russian effort, Alexander Rodin, said that German scientists approached their Russian counterparts to develop equipment necessary to detect and analyze tetrahertz-band radiation.
Such a detector would be sensitive enough to observe volatile compounds as they leak out of cracks in the ice covering Europa, possibly revealing details about the water oceans that most planetary scientists believe exist beneath the moon’s surface.
Artist's view of JUICE approaching Europa
In January, the head of the ESA told reporters that further cooperation with Russia could follow last year’s agreement to jointly develop the ExoMars mission to search for signs of life on the Red Planet.
The mission would be the third in the history of spaceflight to orbit the solar system’s largest planet and is scheduled for launch in 2022. It will arrive at the gas giant after a voyage of eight years.
JUICE will end up in orbit around Ganymede, where it will study the moon's icy surface and internal structure, including its subsurface ocean.
JUICE mission scheduled at Ganymede description
The largest moon in the Solar System, Ganymede is the only one known to generate its own magnetic field, and JUICE will observe the unique magnetic and plasma interactions with Jupiter's magnetosphere in detail.
"Jupiter and its icy moons constitute a kind of mini-Solar System in their own right, offering European scientists and our international partners the chance to learn more about the formation of potentially habitable worlds around other stars," says Dmitrij Titov, ESA's JUICE Study Scientist.
For more information about ESA JUICE Mission, visit: http://sci.esa.int/juice/
Images, Text, Credits: ESA / AOES / C. Caroll / ROSCOSMOS / RIA Novosti / Catherine Laplace-Builhe.
Cheers, Orbiter.ch
