JUICE Probe’s Double Slingshot Manoeuvre | 24 Aug 2024

Source: TH

Recently, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) Probe performed a double slingshot manoeuvre, using the gravitational forces of both the Moon and Earth in quick succession.

• JUICE first flew 434 miles from the Moon's surface, then 4,229 miles from Earth's surface. The Moon's gravity slightly altered JUICE's path, allowing a significant gravity assist from Earth.
  • This is called the "gravity assist" method which saves propellant by using the gravitational pull of celestial bodies to alter the spacecraft's speed and trajectory.
  • Successful execution of the slingshot put JUICE on course to reach Jupiter by 2031 with the help of three further single gravity assists: Venus in 2025, and then the earth again in 2026 and 2029.
• JUICE Probe:
  • It was launched in April 2023 and aims to explore Jupiter and its three large icy moons viz. Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede.
  • It will perform fly-bys of its three large icy moons and finally orbit Ganymede to study the potential to support life.
  • Following up on NASA’s 1990s Galileo mission to Jupiter, the ESA-led JUICE mission will orbit Jupiter.
    • Other important missions to study Jupiter are Juno Mission (NASA), Cassini-Huygens (NASA and ESA) and Galileo (NASA).