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Posted by: machi Feb 16 2012, 09:19 PM

Yellow book is available (13.1.2012) - http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=49837.

Posted by: antoniseb Feb 21 2012, 02:45 PM

Thanks, that's cool. I hope they can get approval and stay on time. 2022 isn't that far away in the scheme of things.

Posted by: Bjorn Jonsson Feb 29 2012, 09:52 PM

Thanks - I finally took a look at this and it is obvious that this would be an extremely interesting mission. A 'Galileo 2' (with the omission of Io though) in a way but with modern and far better instruments (and antenna!). I also get the impression that it would very nicely complement a possible NASA Europa mission since that mission now seems likely to focus almost exclusively on Europa while JUICE is more of a Jupiter System mission - it even includes nice coverage of Jupiter's polar region.

Posted by: Seryddwr Apr 6 2012, 10:59 AM

Wasn't a final decision about JUICE supposed to have been made yesterday? I hope they picked it...

Posted by: Paolo Apr 18 2012, 07:29 AM

rumors say that JUICE has been recommended for adoption as ESA's next large mission. nothing official so far...
great news if true!

Posted by: machi Apr 18 2012, 09:53 AM

It looks official enough (at least for me).

http://scienceblogs.com/catdynamics/upload/2012/04/esa_makes_a_choice/ESA-SPC.pdf

Posted by: Bjorn Jonsson Apr 18 2012, 11:27 AM

This is great news. Detailed information is available and from what I've read this mission is vastly superior to Galileo (even if its HGA had worked), thanks to modern instruments etc. (a difference of at least 30 years). In a way this is Jupiter's 'Cassini' - not as big but with more modern instruments.

Posted by: tasp Apr 18 2012, 12:17 PM

The link mentions an ice penetrating radar.


I am agog with the possibilities. They also discuss the radiation requirements and seem confident the cumulative dose will be survivable.

Posted by: machi Apr 18 2012, 12:54 PM

I have another informations about L missions.
JUICE was recommended by SSAC and SSEWG groups, ATHENA by AWG group and NGO by PSWG group.
JUICE is preferred choice, but it isn't still 100% certain. Final (formal) decision by ESA members is expected on 2 May.

Posted by: Drkskywxlt Apr 18 2012, 01:00 PM

Fantastic news! I've very impressed by the high data rate (1.4Gbit/day) and the ability to operate 11 instruments on solar power at 5AU. Also glad to see that they are not at all relying on NASA or JAXA support for the mission, although I hope those agencies can support the mission in some way.

Posted by: Paolo Apr 18 2012, 01:55 PM

I was split between JUICE and LISA, but LISA or NGO or whatever it is called now would have been my favorite choice, for the Nobel prize science it would produce and for the technological challenges it implied, but still I'm quite happy with JUICE!

Posted by: vjkane Apr 18 2012, 03:38 PM

You can read the current presentation summarizing the mission from the proposal team at http://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/mar2012/presentations/Friday/5_JUICE_Summary.pdf

Posted by: djellison Apr 18 2012, 04:05 PM

Looks to me like they're planning something around 350-400 kbps - which would be spectacular from Jupiter. Can't find a data rate directly, but can infer it from the 1.4Gb in an 8hr pass.

Posted by: Seryddwr Apr 18 2012, 04:59 PM

Obviously, I think everybody here would have preferred it if ALL the missions were commissioned!

But if it is JUICE that's been picked, it sounds tremendous. Something to look forward to in a few years. Plus it will be good to finally get global coverage of Europa instead of the pinpricks of data that came from Galileo. Reading the Atlas of the Galilean Satellites is a rewarding but frustrating experience - like hearing a few seconds of Beethoven's Ninth or seeing a couple of square feet of Guernica...

Posted by: john_s Apr 18 2012, 05:29 PM

No global Europa coverage from JUICE, except at low resolution- there are only two Europa flybys, both at similar longitudes. Still, with high data rates and an ice penetrating radar, these should provide a spectacular improvement in our understanding.

John

Posted by: stevesliva Apr 18 2012, 05:29 PM

Eighteen years (!)

But I should say-- I'm still excited nonetheless!

Posted by: Sunspot Apr 18 2012, 05:57 PM

Arrival date 2030

Posted by: Drkskywxlt Apr 18 2012, 06:12 PM

Earth-Venus-Earth-Earth gravity assists. Tradeoff for having a big spacecraft with relatively moderate onboard delta-V capability.

Posted by: Bjorn Jonsson Apr 18 2012, 07:15 PM

Impressive imaging capabilities (from the yellow book mentioned in the first message of this thread):

A narrow angle framing camera with 1024x1024 pixels, 0.3° FOV and 12 filters that can also do pushbroom imaging. This is roughly two times Galileo's resolution (800x800 and 0.47°) and means that e.g. Io monitoring is possible in addition to Jupiter and icy satellite imaging. For comparison, Cassini's NAC has a FOV of 0.35° and 1024x1024 pixels.

A wide angle camera with 1024x1024 pixels, 117° FOV and 12 filters.

A hyperspectral pushbroom imager with 3.4° FOV, 0.4-5.2 μm spectral range and spectral sampling 2.8-5.0 nm, lines x arrays=640 x 480.

These specs are apparently not final though.

Posted by: machi Apr 18 2012, 08:06 PM

I did some quick comparison, what could be seen from JUICE, based on informations in Yellow book.

Image resolution comparison between older missions and JUICE's NAC camera:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lQg12G1QLEM/T48D1Whz-eI/AAAAAAAAAL0/Np47WYVN0x8/s0/Imaging.jpg

And images of different bodies in Jovian system at resolutions obtainable by same camera:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-epvieLimtoE/T48EKNalfCI/AAAAAAAAAMM/aKUoBZs2PDg/s0/Juice.jpg

Some more http://my-favourite-universe.blogspot.com/2012/04/stavnata-mise-k-jupiteru-z-evropske.html are on my blog.

Posted by: Bjorn Jonsson May 2 2012, 03:15 PM

Another hurdle has been crossed - JUICE was approved unanimously by the ESA member state delegations today. News here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17917102

Great news - on to Jupiter!

Posted by: machi May 2 2012, 04:53 PM

Same news from http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM9I4QWJ1H_index_0.html

Posted by: belleraphon1 May 4 2012, 12:04 PM

I LOVE outer planet missions.

JUICE Spacecraft gets to Jupiter in 2030… I will be 77 that year and my grandsons will be 24. In the span of my life I will have seen PIONEERS, VOYAGERS, GALILEO, ULYSSES, CASSINI, NEW HORIZONS, JUNO (maybe a new Europa/ Titan/ Enceladus) encounters with Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and perhaps some Kuiper Belt objects. Ironically by 2030 we may have sensed the air of terrestrial type exoplanets. But physical travel to the bodies in our own solar system is still at a snail’s pace and outer planet missions (given chemical and low power electric propulsion) are still events for a generation. SIGH!

Posted by: TheAnt May 4 2012, 05:23 PM

Yes the flight time with those gravity assists are considerable, and that even when launched by one Ariane 5.
Now that Ariane 5 ME will be available with the new upper stage, a shorter flight time might be available at the time for launch.

Yet of the about 5 ton to be sent to Jupiter, up to 3 tons might have to be propellant, some substantial part of that to be "juiced" for going into orbit around Ganymede.
And even though quite some of you appear to be pining for Europa, it is one really interesting moon, a magnetic field and where the grooved terrain is a sign of ice tectonics. And perhaps one liquid interior also, though not from current tidal heating so either from internal heat or preserved from the past when the interaction with Io and Europa were stronger, (the eccentricity is very low right now, but it might vary over quite long timescales - a possible connection to the magnetic field there, and Ganymede might even have auroras!)
Now with such a name they might have a perfect opportunity to get a sponsor, though it might be at the risk of getting the suggestion to have the space probe painted orange. *Ducks*

Posted by: belleraphon1 May 4 2012, 06:54 PM

I'd be ok with orange but not sure what that would do to the spacecraft's thermal properties.

Agree that Ganymede is indeed worthy of this visit. As is Callisto. All the Galilean moons are exciting worlds in their own right.

Craig

Posted by: Paolo May 5 2012, 10:16 AM

I am amazed by how much solar panel technology has progressed in the last 30 years... Galileo had two RTG delivering 570 W at launch and 485 W at end of mission, JUICE will have solar panels delivering up to 636 W at end of mission. wow!

Posted by: tusenfem Feb 1 2013, 09:48 AM

Ah! Instrument selection this month!
Let's see if the two instrument packages that I am involved in get selected.

January 2013 SSEWG and SSAC recommendations
February 2013 Preliminary technical KO of instrument Phase A
February 2013 SPC selection

Posted by: tasp Feb 1 2013, 11:02 PM

I bet we already have contributors here imagining those 'Kodak moment' shots we all love.

A crescent Jupiter half risen above a craggy Ganymedean ridge with an Io suspended above the nightside perhaps . . .

Posted by: rlorenz Feb 21 2013, 01:55 PM

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ESA_chooses_instruments_for_its_Jupiter_icy_moons_explorer

Posted by: mcaplinger Feb 21 2013, 04:29 PM

Anybody know the specific team affiliations? The release doesn't say.

Posted by: stevesliva Feb 21 2013, 05:52 PM

Nice list of instruments. Doing all that w/o a scan platform like Cassini?

Posted by: Bjorn Jonsson Feb 21 2013, 05:55 PM

That's something that would be interesting to know - turning a spacecraft with big solar arrays is more difficult than turning a spacecraft like Cassini. It would also be extremely interesting to know something about the instrument specs.

Posted by: Paolo Feb 21 2013, 07:42 PM

anybody knows the difference between the Gravity & Geophysics of Jupiter and Galilean Moons and the Planetary Radio Interferometer & Doppler experiments?
they look like both radio tracking experiments

Posted by: remcook Feb 22 2013, 07:09 AM

For PRIDE it says there is no spacecraft component, just the VLBI, so maybe 3GM is only the spacecraft component?

Posted by: bobik Feb 23 2013, 07:50 AM

I do miss a micrometeoroid-experiment. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/ipm2012/pdf/1134.pdf not onboard?

Posted by: ollopa Feb 23 2013, 05:13 PM

Does anyone know what the Irish involvement is? The ESA press release gives no details and they haven't replied to my query yet.

Posted by: pospa Feb 23 2013, 07:02 PM

Not sure about Irish part, but I can provide info about Czech involvement if someone's interested.
Google translation of recent Czech Space Office http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=cs&sl=cs&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.czechspace.cz%2Fcs%2Fveda-a-vyzkum%2Fpristroje-ceskych-vedcu-poleti-jupiteru.

Posted by: MarcF Mar 15 2013, 04:41 PM

A Russian Ganymede lander in addition to the European JUICE orbiter ?
http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_03_11/Mission-to-Ganymede-more-tricky-than-expected/
Marc.

Posted by: Bjorn Jonsson May 15 2013, 01:53 PM

More detailed information on the instruments:

http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=50073

In particular, the camera (JANUS) has a field of view of 1.3 degrees and carries 13 filters. This is a bigger field of view than the 0.3 degrees discussed earlier in this thread but the size in pixels is not shown (I'd love to see more detailed information on the camera specs). 2048x2048 wouldn't surprise me and would result in a resolution comparable to the Galileo camera. There's no mention of a wide angle camera and there's no information on whether pushbroom imaging is possible. One good thing about 1.3° vs. 0.3° is that global scale mosaics of Jupiter would have been a problem with a 0.3° FOV (huge number frames).

MAJIS is also a very interesting instrument - a hyperspectral imager from 0.4 to 5.7 microns with a top resolution of ~100 km for Jupiter and 25 m for Ganymede.

Posted by: Bjorn Jonsson Sep 12 2013, 11:37 PM

I found some additional information on the imaging experiment (JANUS) here:

http://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC2013/EPSC2013-506.pdf

Not much new information on the camera itself though. The most interesting thing to me is that it has WAC imaging capabilities in addition to the 1.3° field of view and it's a framing camera. Reading between the lines it seems to me that the image size in pixels is ~2048x2048. This is not explicitly mentioned but the resolution numbers seem to imply something like this.

However, there is considerable information on the planned imaging coverage. In particular, compared to Galileo the coverage of Europa looks impressive to me since there are only two close Europa flybys.

Posted by: Bjorn Jonsson Sep 14 2014, 07:50 PM

More detailed information on the JUICE instruments is gradually becoming available. I recently found this interesting PDF document from the 45th LPSC (2014) conference:

http://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2014/pdf/2094.pdf

The most interesting new information to me is a list of the JANUS filters:

Posted by: pitcapuozzo Jul 18 2015, 01:26 PM

Airbus has won the 350.8 mln euro contract to build JUICE over Thales Alenia's competition.


http://spacenews.com/airbus-to-build-esas-jupiter-bound-juice-orbiter/

Posted by: bobik Jun 8 2018, 08:17 AM

The JUICE project has started the http://sci.esa.int/juice/60393-1-juice-comes-in-from-extreme-temperature-test/. Hopefully with many more entries to come, so that it would not become such a stealth project like http://sci.esa.int/solar-orbiter/.

Posted by: bobik Jun 10 2021, 06:47 AM

The JUICE probe will have two https://repos.cosmos.esa.int/socci/projects/SPICE_KERNELS/repos/juice/browse/kernels/ik/juice_jmc_v02.ti with https://www.materionbalzersoptics.com/de/maerkte/laser-space-und-defence/space/. Recently, it was revealed that the JMC would even get a https://microcameras.space/project/juice/ for https://nccr-planets.ch/platforms/technology-transfer/externship-within-mcse/. Spectacular views guaranteed!

Posted by: bobik Jul 22 2021, 07:17 AM

OBTW, ESA has without much ado given up on the June 2022 launch opportunity. JUICE is https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/juice/trajectory-browser for an August-September 2022 launch, which translates to no Mars flyby (but one Moon-Earth flyby), Jupiter Orbit Insertion some one and a half years, and Ganymede Orbit Insertion two years later than planned for a June 2022 launch.

Posted by: bobik Feb 6 2022, 07:37 AM

Taking into account ESA's dumb way to communicate JUICE's launch delay to 2023 and that so far no new official https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/spice/spice-for-juice has been published, I am wondering if ESA's PR people are trying to tease us with this sort of https://twitter.com/ESA_JUICE/status/1488871173194760199?cxt=HHwWjoC-qbKcxKkpAAAA

Posted by: bobik Feb 26 2022, 06:53 AM

Unbelievable! Finally, someone with a Twitter account has got the cojones to ask ESA about the JUICE launch date and has even got a more or less useful https://twitter.com/cosmos4u/status/1495728151938404356: "...stay tuned!"

Posted by: bobik Mar 15 2022, 09:59 AM

A new https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/spice/spice-for-juice (CReMA 5.0b23.1) is published - launch on 5 April 2023. Earlier, August 2023 was mentioned as back-up launch date. By the way, is there an easy and convenient way to read or visualize Orbit kernels?

Posted by: mcaplinger Mar 15 2022, 05:16 PM

You can use SPICE-enhanced Cosmographia https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/naif/cosmographia.html but I would call that neither easy nor convenient. There's a steep learning curve, especially with setting up the JSON files.

Posted by: volcanopele Mar 15 2022, 06:21 PM

At least for ESA Missions there are official Cosmographia add-ons that make adding them pretty simple:

https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/spice/cosmographia

Posted by: Brian Swift Mar 15 2022, 08:20 PM

A relatively easy way to produce plots and tables is the http://spice.esac.esa.int/webgeocalc/#StateVector web page.
.
The above plot of distance to Jupiter was produced by first selecting "juice_crema_5_0b23_1" kernel set from the pulldown,
and entering the below settings in the GUI.


Note: The IAU_JUPITER (rotating) Reference Frame isn't isn't a good choice for plotting positions. Using JUPITER_SUN_ORB
(of which I haven't looked up the definition) for the Reference Frame, and plotting the X,Y positions (from downloaded CSV table)
looks like:

Posted by: vjkane Mar 16 2022, 12:44 AM

For those who can read this data, when does the spacecraft arrive at Jupiter? Thanks.

Posted by: vjkane Mar 16 2022, 03:22 AM

For those who can read this data, when does the spacecraft arrive at Jupiter? Thanks.

Posted by: bobik Mar 16 2022, 10:02 AM

Many thanks! https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/spice/cosmographia gave me an error message when I tried (not very hard) to load the JSON file, however http://spice.esac.esa.int/webgeocalc/#StateVector works fine for me, with the help of the above example.

If I made no mistake,

Launch: 2023-04-05

Moon : 2024-08-19
Earth : 2024-08-20
Venus : 2025-08-31
Earth : 2026-09-28
Earth : 2029-01-17

JOI : 2031-07-21 (a year earlier than with the https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/juice/crema-4.0b launch trajectory)

Posted by: StargazeInWonder Mar 16 2022, 04:08 PM

It's remarkable – almost comical – that after a quarter century, two missions are going to arrive for overlapping jovian system science at almost the same time. Now it looks like Europa Clipper will make a close pass of Europa before JUICE does but it's like watching a close horse race. And won't really matter; it'll be great to get the complementary science as both make observations with similar but non-identical instruments.

Interestingly, both missions' radar instruments have a mode at 9 MHz, which might make them a little less complementary than redundant in kind. Still, 46 radar tracks is better than 44.

Posted by: stevesliva Mar 16 2022, 05:48 PM

Would be nice if the continuing presence continued more places than LEO. At a minimum Mars and Jupiter. But one can easily dream of the rest.

Posted by: StargazeInWonder Mar 17 2022, 05:35 AM

The inner jovian system has radiation to prohibit long lifetimes and the outer jovian system would exclude the targets of highest interest.

Future telescopes are going to have amazing resolution of Jupiter from Earth, so monitoring Jupiter from the vicinity of Callisto or farther wouldn't add much value, either.

Posted by: Bjorn Jonsson Mar 17 2022, 11:47 PM

It's correct that future telescopes will have amazing resolution. However they will be busy observing many different targets and can observe Jupiter only occasionally (this is also true today for the largest groundbased telescopes). So observations by amateur astronomers (or a spacecraft imaging Jupiter from Callisto's orbit or farther out) are still going to be highly valuable because of their time resolution.

And this is an updated ESA animation showing the JUICE trajectory and the dates of several major mission events:
https://youtu.be/Fw17N3rdN7s

Posted by: bobik Mar 18 2022, 07:02 AM

I don't get it, as early as 9 March, ESA has posted a https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbyvawxScNbvjMKrc_2tvXOYTTF7cP4fp about JUICE's new trajectory on Youtube exclusively (what is questionable) without any press release or slightest hint about it on it's official websites or even JUICE's twitter account, what seems to be presently it's main outreach channel (what is even more questionable). It's certain that ESA's PR - or better said, it's information policy is badly flawed.

Posted by: bobik Mar 29 2022, 02:07 PM

Finally the latest (https://twitter.com/cosmos4u/status/1495728151938404356) The Making of JUICE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q0fCfsrMl0 has been released.

Posted by: bobik Mar 31 2022, 07:38 AM

This https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2021/12/aa42600-21/aa42600-21.html should be still valid, because starting with the Venus swing-by the April 2023 launch trajectory is https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/juice/trajectory-browser with the September 2022 launch trajectory.

Edit: New https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0032063322000629 on the "analysis of possible asteroids flyby for the ESA JUICE mission", albeit behind paywall.

Posted by: bobik Jul 13 2022, 05:32 AM

After a month of silence, a JUICE science instrument https://twitter.com/GALA_JUICE/status/1546475961088090119?cxt=HHwWjoCxpa3sl_YqAAAA informs us that "[t]he structural tests of the [JUICE] spacecraft are finished as well as the reduced functional tests afterwards. GALA and all other instruments are nominal." -- ESA's public outreach is so broken!

Edit (2022-07-19): Oh now, JUICE's contractor https://twitter.com/AirbusSpace/status/1549304847564001281?cxt=HHwWgsC-_ZujnoArAAAA a short (58 sec) video about the completed vibration and acoustic tests.

Posted by: bobik Feb 22 2023, 07:16 AM

https://twitter.com/ESA_JUICE/status/1627662102138863617?cxt=HHwWgoDSxdyDz5YtAAAA on the launch preparation of JUICE on a controversial social-media website, although I think that it would be far easier, and a better idea to simply publish the JUICE launch campaign newsletter, as fortunately the https://np.cosmos.ru/novosti did during the https://np.cosmos.ru/images/pdf/newsletter_01_27_04_2018.pdf in 2018.

Posted by: nogal Feb 22 2023, 06:13 PM

It is easy to search the ESA website... Trying https://www.esa.int/esearch?q=JUICE yelds many, many entries.
Here is one of the latest

https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Transportation/Ariane/Juice_on_final_stretch_for_launch_to_Jupiter
Fernando
PS - or subscribe the news topic. Cheers

Posted by: bobik Feb 23 2023, 07:05 AM

If you could only find the weekly (or so) JUICE Launch Campaign Newsletter, this would be big news.

Posted by: bobik Mar 18 2023, 08:18 AM

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alessandro-a-a94b155_juice-va260-juicemission-activity-7042286857493102592-v9jS?trk=public_profile_share_view

Posted by: nprev Apr 13 2023, 04:20 AM

After all these years launch day has arrived!!! T-0 scheduled for 1215 GMT.

Watch live here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZD9n9HLwswQ

More info: https://www.esa.int/.../How_to_follow_the_Juice_launch_live

GO JUICE!!!

Posted by: john_s Apr 13 2023, 12:24 PM

Sigh- not today. Scrubbed due to lightning risk. Will try again tomorrow, one minute earlier.

John

Posted by: Bjorn Jonsson Apr 14 2023, 12:35 PM

So far so good. I have probably not been this excited about a planetary spacecraft launch since 1997 (Cassini).

Posted by: nprev Apr 14 2023, 12:46 PM

Spacecraft separation and JUICE is on its way!

Posted by: Bjorn Jonsson Apr 14 2023, 01:34 PM

Both solar arrays fully deployed, a major milestone.

Posted by: StargazeInWonder Apr 14 2023, 02:28 PM

Great news!

Bjorn's mention of 1997 helps me frame how I, and I'm sure some others see this: Since the Galileo Orbiter, that mission's shortcomings, notably the extremely limited data rate, have created the feeling that we needed a follow-up to replace the thorough study of the Galileans that we lost. Now, though it will arrive 35 years (!) after Galileo did, this is going to be a major part of filling that gap. Combined with Europa Clipper, JUICE will far more than replace the observations we lost back in 1996-2000 as far as the three outer Galileans go.

But for now, we wait some more!

Posted by: MarcF Apr 14 2023, 03:49 PM

I remember, back in 2007 I first posted here about a possible ESA/NASA collaboration to send several probes to explore further the Jovian system. At that time the project was called Laplace.
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=4637
Most of reactions were pessimistic (if not sarcastic).
A lot happened since and there were many changes, but finally JUICE is on its way to the Jovian system and Europa Clipper will follow soon.
These will be 2 amazing missions.

Posted by: StargazeInWonder Apr 15 2023, 05:10 AM

Thanks for linking to the history, Marc.

While some ambitions have been postponed, the combination of Juno, JUICE, and Europa Clipper will put us one Io mission away from an excellent survey of the jovian system, at last, and ESA is on the way to doing their part.

Posted by: Bjorn Jonsson Apr 15 2023, 12:46 PM

That was quick - images from the Juice Monitoring Cameras (JMC) have already been released. Juice's first 'selfies': https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Juice/Juice_sends_first_selfies_from_space

Posted by: volcanopele Apr 15 2023, 04:55 PM

Hopefully these cameras stick around until the tour. They make great public relations cameras since they help to provide a “you are there” perspective which the science camera can sometimes lack do the narrow field of view.

Posted by: rlorenz Apr 15 2023, 04:57 PM

Indeed. There were NASA-funded ($1M each, IIRC) Flagship studies in 2007, one to Europa, one to Ganymede/Jovian System that were in parallel with (and actually had more technical analysis than) the Laplace concept (just a community response to an ESA call for ideas). At the same time, there was an ESA idea called TandEM and NASA Flagship studies for Titan, and for Enceladus - I served as project scientist and Science Definition Team chair for the Titan one : we came up with a single-launch lander + balloon + aerocapture concept.

In 2008, these studies were consolidated into a next joint study phase - Europa Jupiter system Mission (EJSM), and Titan Saturn System Mission (TSSM). NASA directed that TSSM must do both Titan and Enceladus, could not use aerocapture (negating a major advantage of Titan as a target), and that ESA would supply the sexy bits - lake lander and balloon. Unsurprisingly, although a credible mission design emerged, NASA elected to pursue the Europa mission (which eventually, via much convolution, became Clipper) to complement ESA's JUICE mission. (The 2013 Decadal Survey had a Ganymede New Frontiers mission, but basically said 'its a great mission, but ESA will probably do it...)

After a hopeful digression to explore a low-cost Discovery concept (the Titan Mare Explorer in 2012, thwarted by a stalled NASA radioisotope Stirling generator development, leaving NASA no choice but to select InSight instead) Titan was left out in the cold for the 20-teens.

But then in 2016, when NASA added Titan/Enceladus to the New Frontiers target list, Dragonfly was conceived, and was able to draw on the combined objectives that had been defined for a Titan lander and a Titan balloon back in 2007......

It's funny how things turn out.

Posted by: bobik Apr 22 2023, 06:20 AM

According to this https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2023/01/Juice_comes_to_life_artist_s_impression, the RIME antenna should already be deployed. Unfortunately, ESA has largely fallen dumb, since the fine launch coverage, so who knows what's going on.

Posted by: bobik Apr 26 2023, 06:22 AM

12 days after launch, ESA still continues to hold on tightly to its JUICE information embargo, however, in the Planetary Science Archive (PSA) has recently appeared a bunch of https://archives.esac.esa.int/psa/#!Table%20View/JMC=instrument, albeit still 'On Hold'. A large quantity of images were made on 2023-04-19, probably the day of the RIME antenna deployment. At the meantime the magnetometer boom should also already be deployed, according to this pre-launch https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2023/01/Juice_comes_to_life_artist_s_impression.

PS. RADiation-hard Electron Monitor (https://archives.esac.esa.int/psa/#!Table%20View/RADEM=instrument) and High Accuracy Accelerometer (https://archives.esac.esa.int/psa/#!Table%20View/HAA=instrument) data are also flowing into the PSA.

Posted by: Bjorn Jonsson Apr 27 2023, 12:18 AM

The magnetometer boom has been deployed: https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2023/04/Juice_s_first_taste_of_science_from_space

Posted by: bobik Apr 27 2023, 05:50 AM

Magnetometer boom deployment on 2023-04-21 at 14:29:38 UT, early on the 8th day of the expedition, so the published pre-launch https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2023/01/Juice_comes_to_life_artist_s_impression isn't very valid. Successful deployment has been made public five days after the event, strikingly, the https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2023/04/Juice_s_first_taste_of_science_from_space doesn't mention the https://spacetech-i.com/news/news-details/spacetech-antenna-for-juice-rime-installed-and-ready-to-fly, although successful deployment of the solar arrays and the medium gain antenna (MGA) is mentioned, thus RIME antenna status so far unknown.

Posted by: climber Apr 28 2023, 01:53 PM

RIME didn’t fully deployed : https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Juice/Work_continues_to_deploy_Juice_RIME_antenna

Posted by: dtolman Apr 29 2023, 03:13 AM

Is RIME all or nothing? If it ends stuck at 1/3 deployed, is it still somewhat usable?

Posted by: StargazeInWonder Apr 29 2023, 05:18 AM

The sun-shadow approach to unstick the problem would seem to be most effective, potentially, when JUICE is closest to the Sun, which will be six months from now around the time of its Venus flyby. So I guess that the time for greater worry would be if it remains stuck after that opportunity.

Partial deployment would certainly impact resolution at the very least, but whether or not partial deployment would permit useful operation depends upon further details which don't seem to be available yet. How much of the antenna is now perpendicular to the instrument's "look" direction; how much noise would be returned from the remaining portions of it? Hopefully we won't have to face those questions. If worse comes to worst, it remains true that Europa Clipper will also provide the opportunity to study Europa thorough with similar capability, and some representative ground tracks at Ganymede and Callisto.

Posted by: bobik Apr 29 2023, 05:38 AM

According to the large quantity of https://archives.esac.esa.int/psa/#!Table%20View/JMC=instrument in the PSA, they already tried something to release the antenna on 2023-04-27, however, which apparently didn't work.

EDIT: I don't think there is a description of the RIME Hold-Down and Release Mechanism (HDRM) published, at least I can't find one, but there are https://www.czechspaceportal.cz/tiskova-zprava-evropska-mise-juice-s-ceskymi-komponenty-na-palube-miri-k-jupiteru/ on the web. Hmm... so where lies the problem?

Posted by: Bjorn Jonsson May 12 2023, 05:14 PM

RIME antenna successfully deployed!!

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Juice/Juice_s_RIME_antenna_breaks_free

Posted by: nogal May 12 2023, 05:16 PM

Good news. The RIME antenna is free

See ESA announcement at https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Juice/Juice_s_RIME_antenna_breaks_free

PS: well done Bjorn! I was fiddling with the mobile's keybord and did not notice your post

Posted by: Explorer1 May 12 2023, 05:51 PM

Bravo! May that pin never be seen again!
(And the advantage of having engineering cameras is demonstrated once more...)

Posted by: climber May 12 2023, 06:05 PM

They deserve Champagne, not only free juice 🤦‍♂️

Posted by: StargazeInWonder May 14 2023, 03:06 AM

If you count Lucy's solar panels, and Juno's valves, all four orbiters that have been sent to Jupiter (and its Trojans) have had a part stuck during deployment. Luckily, all of these have had successful workarounds and a complete resolution in this case, but that four out of four number is eyebrow-raising.

Posted by: djellison May 14 2023, 05:00 AM

Why?

There isn't a spacecraft out there that hasn't had a failure with workarounds. These things are incomprehensibly complicated. Thousands of components.

Cassini had a reaction wheel go out super early. SOHO was nearly lost 20 years ago. Galileo's HGA. MGS's solar panels. MEX concerns over MARSIS deployment, MRO Ka band going down etc...etc...etc.

They all have their problems. And their teams work around it.

Posted by: StargazeInWonder May 14 2023, 05:13 AM

I think you may have read a criticism in my comment that I didn't intend. Of course very complicated projects have problems that are often possible to overcome.

In this case, the similarity of the problems and the same target simply seemed curious. Lots of missions have lots of different issues, but here three had issues with something external failing to extend correctly, and all with the same target. It's certainly not pejorative regarding the teams, and as the problems with Galileo, Lucy, and JUICE all occurred so long before arrival at Jupiter, there's no casual relationship there.

It's also four different teams, two agencies, different decades… obviously no one pointing the blame at anyone.

Posted by: djellison May 14 2023, 05:17 AM

It just seemed an odd comment to make - it appeared you were trying to infer there was something about the target that had something to do with the issues.

Posted by: StargazeInWonder May 14 2023, 05:23 AM

Understood. No, the fact that these have happened so far from Jupiter makes that definitely coincidental. If they'd all happened in Jupiter's radiation belts, that'd be another thing.

Likewise, the Soviets had rotten luck with Mars missions, but some of them occurred at/near launch. Mars didn't cause that, but the mishaps randomly piled up that way. So it goes.

Posted by: tanjent May 14 2023, 11:40 PM

Jupiter is the most distant target planet for which probes can manage on solar power without RTG's. So spacecraft going there need big panels, intricately folded prior to launch. Likewise I am guessing that the communications antennae need to be larger relative to the spacecraft itself than for probes heading to the inner planets and Mars. So the engineering challenges involved in powering and communicating with Jupiter-bound payloads are bound to be daunting.

Posted by: HSchirmer May 15 2023, 02:01 AM

And it certainly doesn't help that, for a Jupiter-bound mission, you're on a heavy lift rocket.
So your delicate science probe that's assembled in a clean room and likely barely be able to support its own weight in earth gravity-
will spend several minutes being shaken within an inch of its life (specifications?) and blasted by 150+ decibels of sound energy.

As well as go from 1 atmosphere to hard vacuum in a matter of minutes and then from ~85° Fahrenheit to a rotisserie of +250°F and -150°F.

Posted by: vjkane May 15 2023, 02:29 PM

There have been several proposed solar powered Discovery and New Frontiers-class missions for the Saturnian system across 2-3 competitions. I've never heard that the reasons they weren't chosen was because of the proposed use of solar power. Two of the losing teams gave debriefs on the reviews of their proposals at an OPAG meeting, and solar power wasn't mentioned.

Given how small this community is, if solar power wasn't going to get past reviewers (and the reviews assess technical feasibility), I think that would be known by now in the community. The recent Decadal Survey Enceladus multiflyby concept used RTG, and they note was that RTGs were more mass efficient.

I don't think that we can say for certain about solar power at Saturn until a mission is selected, but there are good examples of professionals in the field believing they can will mission concepts using solar power.

BTW, NASA is offering up to two MMRTGs for the upcoming NF5 competition. Missions have been proposed to each of the candidate destinations using solar power. If the winning mission does use solar power, the fuel could be repackaged into a next get RTG and offered to a Uranus mission. (Repackage for more efficient and long lived thermocouples than MMRTGs.) This would give the mission about a third of what's been desired in most Uranus flagship orbiter concept designs, or about enough for a NF-class orbiter. The alternative, per the recent OPAG meeting is to miss the early 2030s window and wait until the mid or late 2030s and much long flight times.


https://spacenews.com/plutonium-availability-constrains-plans-for-future-planetary-missions/

Posted by: stevesliva May 15 2023, 04:05 PM

If we're talking Jupiter orbiter coincidences, I'd like to request a Shoemaker-Levy comet impact. TIA!

Posted by: MahFL May 16 2023, 01:40 AM

Trying to be neutral on the subject, you'd think by now mechanical engineering could design some 99.999% reliable release mechanisms...

Posted by: djellison May 16 2023, 03:32 AM

What does it tell you about the scope and scale of the design problems and the challenges these unique environments present that - across different agencies, different contractors and both public and private sector projects.........problems of this kind emerge from time to time.

Fascinating reading here - https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20210020397/downloads/Alphonzo%20Stewart-%20Final%20Paper.pdf

Posted by: HSchirmer May 16 2023, 02:29 PM

Along similar lines some fascinating viewing- YouTube engineering discussion of a cleanroom tour for Hubble

Posted by: Quetzalcoatl May 26 2023, 08:04 PM

Bonsoir,

Deployment of Juice instruments completed. Details of operations.

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Juice/Juice_deployments_complete_final_form_for_Jupiter

Posted by: bobik Jun 26 2023, 05:58 AM

PEP-Hi (JENI and JoEE) commissioning was https://www.linkedin.com/posts/herman-andersson-5a697418_joeejeni-apl-civil-space-activity-7076286570923761664-H4XR successfully completed on 14 June. PEP-Lo (JDC, JEI, JNA, NIM) https://web.archive.org/web/20230626060601/https://www.linkedin.com/posts/herman-andersson-5a697418_pep-lo-commissioning-1-the-four-european-activity-7069320135357997056-pURa is planned to be completed on 30 June.

It's a pity that https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ali-ravanbakhsh-8ba090a2_esajuice-activity-7065232678844788736-R6qo and https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alessandro-a-a94b155_the-importance-of-testing-the-previous-post-activity-7014663822435065856--uX8 information are hidden on various social media websites and not centrally collected in an ESA blog or something.

Posted by: john_s Jul 6 2023, 05:18 PM

Nice story on the RIME deployment anomaly https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Juice/Solving_the_RIME_deployment_mystery

Posted by: nprev Jul 6 2023, 09:11 PM

A superb story of ingenuity and success indeed. Thanks for posting the link, John!

Posted by: bobik Jul 8 2023, 09:14 AM

On 3 July the commissioning of the PEP instrument package was successfully completed, albeit the last sentence of the https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/irf/pressreleases/nu-har-aeventyret-i-rymden-boerjat-foer-det-svenska-instrumentet-particle-environment-package-ombord-paa-juice-slash-now-the-adventure-in-space-has-began-for-the-swedish-instrument-particle-environment-package-on-board-juice-3263888 sounds somewhat suspicious.

Posted by: bobik Aug 8 2023, 06:51 AM

JUICE is currently in https://web.archive.org/web/20230808062040/https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jan-bergman-16a2631b_where-is-juice-now-activity-7092935357477888000-T73v.

Posted by: rlorenz Aug 9 2023, 01:52 AM

I don't know any specifics here, but outgassing can take a long time to die away completely (e.g. I think there was measurable thrust from ougassing on MSL for a couple of weeks after launch), and you dont want to power up high voltage systems if there is a residual atmosphere or arcing may occur. So this may just be unhurried prudence. I think some of the covers on Cassini's instruments were only opened/jettisoned several years after launch, after the inner solar system flybys were completed.

Posted by: djellison Aug 9 2023, 04:15 AM

I once heard someone describe InSIGHT cruise as "Farting all the way to Mars"

Posted by: stevesliva Aug 9 2023, 05:59 PM

Spin-stabilized cropdusting if you're being polite.

Posted by: propguy Aug 10 2023, 02:57 PM

Actually InSight was 3 axis stabilized, not a spinner. If the quote about the farting came from the ops team it was more related to the fact that without reaction wheels we used the 4.5 N thrusters in minimum impulse mode to control pointing for the entire cruise (the the fart reference). We did see outgassing for a lot of cruise (all of the moisture in the MLI and other elements within the aeroshell had to vent out one location in the backshell).

Posted by: bobik Nov 15 2023, 06:04 AM

On Friday, Nov. 17, starting at around 15:16 UTC, https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/juice will perform a Deep Space Manoeuvre (DSM) lasting about 43 minutes and imparting a change in speed of about 200m/s to the spacecraft, according to http://spice.esac.esa.int/webgeocalc.

Posted by: nogal Nov 17 2023, 08:52 PM

The maneuver went well, according to today's news from ESA.

JUICE is now positioned for a first: a double Moon-Earth gravity assist flyby on August 2024.

Link to ESA article: https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/Juice_burns_hard_towards_first-ever_Earth-Moon_flyby


Fernando

Posted by: stevesliva Nov 17 2023, 09:16 PM

Might not fire main engine again until Jupiter Orbit Insertion, in 2031. (!)

Posted by: Decepticon Nov 18 2023, 05:06 AM

Does Juice have any bonus targets on way to Jupiter?

I haven't been able to find any mentions of possible targets.

Posted by: StargazeInWonder Nov 18 2023, 05:27 AM

Don't you count Earth as a bonus target?

There's also asteroid 223 Rosa, possibly. But if so, that's six years away.

If so, it's quite a large one – only three larger asteroid belt objects have been visited by spacecraft. Rosa is a little smaller than Lutetia.

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/03/juice-project-manager/

Posted by: bobik Dec 1 2023, 09:02 AM

Today at 15:30 UTC, JUICE is going to perform the second, with a duration of about 134 seconds and a change in speed of approximately 10 m/s much smaller second part of the https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/Juice_burns_hard_towards_first-ever_Earth-Moon_flyby (DSM), according to http://spice.esac.esa.int/webgeocalc/#NewCalculation.

Posted by: bobik Feb 3 2024, 06:40 AM

https://juicesoc.esac.esa.int/tm/pcheckout?id=PCW1 (PCW1) apparently ended yesterday. Will ESA or the instrument teams give us an update on payload status, I wonder?

Posted by: bobik Mar 21 2024, 07:28 AM

Exactly, nice http://www.fysikersamfundet.se/wp-content/uploads/FA-1-2024_webb.pdf#page=6 (in Swedish) on the physics of the out-gassing issues of high-voltage instruments in the example of JUICE's https://umu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1651880/FULLTEXT01.pdf, first high-voltage testing in summer. EDIT: A https://www.wakusei.jp/book/pp/2024/2024-1/60-66_p.pdf#page=6 (in Japanese) of the initial post-launch check-out of the JNA instrument, during initial checkout the high-voltage output was limited to about 10 to 15% of the maximum level. After periodic checkouts, the high-voltage output will be gradually boosted to the level required for normal operation in the summer of 2026.

Posted by: bobik Apr 18 2024, 05:41 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g3Kln6RRV0&list=PLPXeplhp1d001P7K0kCCxdrS3E42gf0Tf

Posted by: Explorer1 Apr 18 2024, 02:02 PM

Mark the date: July 17, 2032, a double spacecraft flyby of Europe!

Posted by: bobik Apr 23 2024, 06:48 AM

At midnight between April 19 and 20, JUICE performed a small TCM (Trajectory Correction Maneuver), imparting a change of speed relative to the Sun of about 0.7 m/s, according to http://spice.esac.esa.int/webgeocalc/#NewCalculation.

Posted by: nogal Jul 15 2024, 06:04 PM

In about one month (on August 19-20) JUICE will fly by the Moon and then Earth.
The double flyby, a first of its kind, will set JUICE on a course to Jupiter via a "shortcut" past Venus.

See the full information at https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Juice/Juice_s_lunar-Earth_flyby_all_you_need_to_know

Posted by: bobik Jul 21 2024, 01:08 PM

Early tomorrow morning, at around 2024-07-22T03:00Z, JUICE will perform a small trajectory control manoeuvre (1.8 cm/s), according to http://spice.esac.esa.int/webgeocalc/#NewCalculation.

Posted by: nogal Jul 29 2024, 04:20 PM

ESA has released an animation of JUICE's double flyby.
Here is the link:

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2024/07/Juice_returns_for_a_lunar-Earth_flyby

Fernando

Posted by: bobik Aug 18 2024, 07:20 AM

According to the latest https://juicesoc.esac.esa.int/tm/pcheckout?id=LEGA, JUICE will perform a two-hour long joint experiment together with https://haarp.gi.alaska.edu/ starting about 14 minutes after closest Earth approach. EDIT: A https://pparc.gp.tohoku.ac.jp/20240810_juice-lega/ (in Japanese) of the experiments conducted with JUICE's RPWI (Radio and Plasma Wave Instruments) during the flyby.

Posted by: Hungry4info Aug 19 2024, 09:11 PM

By now the Lunar flyby closest approach should have occurred. There's a live event in 20 minutes to present images (?)
https://www.youtube.com/live/ZoodtR-46Ms

Posted by: nogal Aug 19 2024, 09:39 PM

Live event is in progress. Flyby has happened. JUICE taken Images are being received and displayed. JUICE which is now (21:40 UTC aprox) about 5000 kms away from the Moon.
Fernando

Posted by: JTN Aug 19 2024, 09:43 PM

First image is from navigation camera, just before eclipse, and is a not very exciting starfield.

("We don’t know how the images will look [...] we’re sharing them publicly before we’ve had a chance to process them at all"... is this wise, I wonder, given JUICE's personality in https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=cdkclws99kna5tud)

Posted by: JTN Aug 19 2024, 09:46 PM

Selfies from an engineering camera (I think) coming through now...

Posted by: JTN Aug 19 2024, 10:09 PM

Last image from JMC1 before handover from New Norcia, from ~1h ago, showing a sliver of lunar terminator with blockage from a radiator (see https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2023/05/A_guide_to_Juice_s_monitoring_cameras); contrast-stretched by me.

Posted by: JTN Aug 19 2024, 10:23 PM

Last image from the livestream (again, stretched).

Posted by: Hungry4info Aug 19 2024, 11:24 PM

Images are coming down and being decoded.
https://x.com/aang254/status/1825663214992126346

Posted by: Hungry4info Aug 20 2024, 06:17 PM

Colour engineering camera images. Looking forward to getting this for Venus around this time next year.

Posted by: nogal Aug 20 2024, 07:58 PM

This ESA page showing an interactive and labeled version of the first image of Hungry4info's post #134 may be of interest to some members.

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2024/08/Juice_snaps_Moon_en_route_to_Earth

Fernando

Posted by: bobik Aug 23 2024, 12:09 PM

JUICE Monitoring Camera (JMC) images of recent LEGA are available from the https://psa.esa.int/psa (PSA). Where are the avid image processing people of which this forum has so plenty. I am expecting many coloured and animated images. Needed calibration information has become available https://microcameras.space/project/juice/.

Posted by: Explorer1 Aug 24 2024, 05:14 PM

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Juice/First_views_from_Juice_s_science_camera