Dennis
16-04-2023, 09:09 AM
I had the opportunity to grab some images of the ESA Jupiter Icy moons Explorer ("JUICE") from Brisbane. The original launch date was 13th April but this was delayed due to poor weather, until 14th April 2023.
I managed to record 60x60 sec exposures (some cloud interrupted) and was surprised to find an object ahead of the plotted position keeping up with JUICE – I assume this might be the rocket booster? These are the 2 horizontal trails, the diagonal trail at bottom left zipped through the field early on in the series.
I obtained the predicted position from the JPL Horizons website.
To make things a little more interesting, we had a power outage part way through the evening and I had to re-boot everything and start over.
Capture Details:
Tak Mewlon 210 F11.5
Tak x0.8 Reducer
QHY268M Camera.
15th April 2023, 9:13PM to 10:14PM AEST
UTC: 2023-04-15T11:13 to 12:14.
Brisbane.
INTRODUCTION:
The Jupiter Icy moons Explorer ("JUICE") is an ESA mission launched on 14th April 2023 from French Guiana (ELA-3) on an Ariane 5. Its period and area of operations will overlap with NASA's Europa Clipper mission launching in 2024.
PURPOSE
The JUICE orbiter will investigate Ganymede and evaluate its potential to support life. Investigations of Europa and Callisto will compare these Galilean moons. The three moons are thought to have internal liquid water oceans, and are thought key to understanding the habitability of icy worlds.
Main science objectives for Ganymede (and Callisto to lesser extent):
Characterize ocean layers & detect detect any subsurface water reservoirs
Topographical, geological and compositional mapping of surface
Study the physical properties of the icy crusts
Characterisation of internal mass distribution and dynamics
Investigate Ganymede's tenuous atmosphere
Study Ganymede's magnetic field and interactions with Jovian magnetosphere
For Europa, the focus is on the chemistry essential to life. JUICE will also provide the first subsurface sounding of the moon, and determination of icy crust thickness over the most recently active regions.
TRAJECTORY OVERVIEW:
JUICE will have four gravity assist flybys of Venus and Earth and pass through the asteroid Main-Belt twice before arriving at Jupiter in July, 2031.
There will be a Ganymede flyby 7.5 hours prior to Jupiter orbit insertion.
The first Europa flyby will be in July 2032. The spacecraft will be placed in a high inclination orbit to allow exploration of Jupiter's polar regions and to study Jupiter's magnetosphere.
In December 2034, the spacecraft will enter orbit around Ganymede, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit a moon other than Earth's.
FLYBYS:
2024 Aug: Earth-Moon system (gravity-assist)
2025 Aug: Venus (gravity assist)
2026 Sep: Earth #2 (gravity assist)
2029 Jan: Earth #3 (gravity assist)
2029 Oct: Asteroid 223 Rosa [PROPOSED]
2031+ : more then 25 gravity assists, two Europa flybys
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
3-axis stabilized
Power: solar panels, 85 m^2, 820W (EOM)
High-gain antenna: 2.5 m, body fixed
X- and Ka bands, downlink > 1.4 Gbit/day
Propulsion: bi-propellant main engine plus 10 thrusters
Delta-V capability (2700 m/s, ~3000 kg of chemical propellant)
Radiation level: 240 krad /10 mm Al solid sphere
Dry mass at launch: ~1800 kg
Deployable appendages:
10.6 meter boom for JMAG and RPWI
16-meter antenna for radar
Steerable medium gain antenna for comm and radio science
SCIENCE INSTRUMENTS (11):
Jovis, Amorum ac Natorum Undique Scrutator (JANUS, camera system)
Moons and Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer (MAJIS, VIS/IR imaging spectrograph)
UV Imaging Spectrograph (UVS, UV imaging spectrograph)
Sub-millimeter Wave Instrument (SWI, spectrometer)
Ganymede Laser Altimeter (GALA)
Radar for Icy Moons Exploration (RIME, ice-penetrating 9 GHz, w/16m antenna)
JUICE-Magnetometer (J-MAG)
Particle Environment Package (PEP, suite of six sensors)
Radio and Plasma Wave Investigation (RPWI)
Gravity and Geophysics of Jupiter and Galilean Moons (3GM, Ka transponder)
Planetary Radio Interferometer and Doppler Experiment (PRIDE)
Cheers
Dennis
I managed to record 60x60 sec exposures (some cloud interrupted) and was surprised to find an object ahead of the plotted position keeping up with JUICE – I assume this might be the rocket booster? These are the 2 horizontal trails, the diagonal trail at bottom left zipped through the field early on in the series.
I obtained the predicted position from the JPL Horizons website.
To make things a little more interesting, we had a power outage part way through the evening and I had to re-boot everything and start over.
Capture Details:
Tak Mewlon 210 F11.5
Tak x0.8 Reducer
QHY268M Camera.
15th April 2023, 9:13PM to 10:14PM AEST
UTC: 2023-04-15T11:13 to 12:14.
Brisbane.
INTRODUCTION:
The Jupiter Icy moons Explorer ("JUICE") is an ESA mission launched on 14th April 2023 from French Guiana (ELA-3) on an Ariane 5. Its period and area of operations will overlap with NASA's Europa Clipper mission launching in 2024.
PURPOSE
The JUICE orbiter will investigate Ganymede and evaluate its potential to support life. Investigations of Europa and Callisto will compare these Galilean moons. The three moons are thought to have internal liquid water oceans, and are thought key to understanding the habitability of icy worlds.
Main science objectives for Ganymede (and Callisto to lesser extent):
Characterize ocean layers & detect detect any subsurface water reservoirs
Topographical, geological and compositional mapping of surface
Study the physical properties of the icy crusts
Characterisation of internal mass distribution and dynamics
Investigate Ganymede's tenuous atmosphere
Study Ganymede's magnetic field and interactions with Jovian magnetosphere
For Europa, the focus is on the chemistry essential to life. JUICE will also provide the first subsurface sounding of the moon, and determination of icy crust thickness over the most recently active regions.
TRAJECTORY OVERVIEW:
JUICE will have four gravity assist flybys of Venus and Earth and pass through the asteroid Main-Belt twice before arriving at Jupiter in July, 2031.
There will be a Ganymede flyby 7.5 hours prior to Jupiter orbit insertion.
The first Europa flyby will be in July 2032. The spacecraft will be placed in a high inclination orbit to allow exploration of Jupiter's polar regions and to study Jupiter's magnetosphere.
In December 2034, the spacecraft will enter orbit around Ganymede, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit a moon other than Earth's.
FLYBYS:
2024 Aug: Earth-Moon system (gravity-assist)
2025 Aug: Venus (gravity assist)
2026 Sep: Earth #2 (gravity assist)
2029 Jan: Earth #3 (gravity assist)
2029 Oct: Asteroid 223 Rosa [PROPOSED]
2031+ : more then 25 gravity assists, two Europa flybys
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
3-axis stabilized
Power: solar panels, 85 m^2, 820W (EOM)
High-gain antenna: 2.5 m, body fixed
X- and Ka bands, downlink > 1.4 Gbit/day
Propulsion: bi-propellant main engine plus 10 thrusters
Delta-V capability (2700 m/s, ~3000 kg of chemical propellant)
Radiation level: 240 krad /10 mm Al solid sphere
Dry mass at launch: ~1800 kg
Deployable appendages:
10.6 meter boom for JMAG and RPWI
16-meter antenna for radar
Steerable medium gain antenna for comm and radio science
SCIENCE INSTRUMENTS (11):
Jovis, Amorum ac Natorum Undique Scrutator (JANUS, camera system)
Moons and Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer (MAJIS, VIS/IR imaging spectrograph)
UV Imaging Spectrograph (UVS, UV imaging spectrograph)
Sub-millimeter Wave Instrument (SWI, spectrometer)
Ganymede Laser Altimeter (GALA)
Radar for Icy Moons Exploration (RIME, ice-penetrating 9 GHz, w/16m antenna)
JUICE-Magnetometer (J-MAG)
Particle Environment Package (PEP, suite of six sensors)
Radio and Plasma Wave Investigation (RPWI)
Gravity and Geophysics of Jupiter and Galilean Moons (3GM, Ka transponder)
Planetary Radio Interferometer and Doppler Experiment (PRIDE)
Cheers
Dennis