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Juice Space Probe, Launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) last April, Successfully executed a critical maneuver while passing between the Moon and Earth to gain the necessary momentum toward Jupiter. The European Space Agency announced the news on Wednesday.
Juice will make a close flyby of the Moon at 9:00pm GMT on August 19, before continuing its trajectory over Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean. The flight altitude is less than 7000 kilometers, Shortly before 10:00pm GMT on August 20th.
This maneuver is called gravity assist. It allows a spacecraft to use the gravity of a celestial body to change its speed and direction. The Ariane 5 rocket that launched Juice into space did not have enough power to fly it directly to Jupiter, which is about 800 million kilometers from Earth.
Visited: Jupiter’s icy moons: a new horizon in the search for alien life
ESA stressed that while other space missions have used this technique, the combination of a flyby of the moon and Earth is a “world first.” The probe increased its speed slightly as it approached Earth, then decreased it significantly, changing its trajectory toward Venus.due to arrive in 2025.
After flying over Venus, Juice will return to Earth for two additional flybys in 2026 and 2029 before arriving at Jupiter in July 2031. Once there, the probe will study the icy moons Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, searching for environments that could support alien life.
To ensure the success of this exercise, A trajectory correction was made last month. In addition, the operation made it possible to test Juice’s instruments, which are essential for observing Jovian moons.
*The creation of this content was assisted by artificial intelligence. The information was provided and reviewed by journalists for accuracy. The content was not automatically generated.
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