NASA has launched the clearest photos ever compiled of Earth’s magnetosphere radiation belt. However the spacecraft that achieved the feat wasn’t solely designed to element the very important atmospheric area shielding the planet from dangerous cosmic rays—it’s within the early phases of a multi-year journey to Jupiter.
Launched on April 14, 2023, the European House Company’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) probe is at present launched into a visit to the Photo voltaic System’s largest planet. As soon as it lastly arrives in July 2031, JUICE will analyze Jupiter’s magnetosphere whereas additionally gathering data on three of its 79 moons: Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede. Earlier than it will get there, nonetheless, the spacecraft might want to harness a number of planets’ gravitational pulls to correctly regulate its velocity and trajectory. And in response to NASA, engineers wished to take advantage of the primary shut encounter.
The company detailed each the brand new photos, in addition to historical past’s first-ever lunar-Earth flyby and double gravity help maneuver, in an October 1 announcement. Starting on August 19, the primary of two devices, the Jovian Energetic Electrons (JoEE) instrument, booted up as JUICE handed about 465 miles above the lunar floor. Throughout this 30-minute window, JoEE collected knowledge on how the area atmosphere across the moon exerts an affect on Earth’s solely (everlasting) pure satellite tv for pc. The transient experiment served as a profitable trial run for what JoEE will hopefully accomplish on a a lot better scale as soon as it nears Jupiter.
However JUICE wasn’t accomplished but. On August 20, the spacecraft traveled by way of Earth’s magnetosphere about 37,000 above the Pacific Ocean. On this part, the onboard Jovian Energetic Neutrals and Ions (JENI) instrument constructed by the Johns Hopkins Utilized Physics Laboratory (APL) acquired its personal stress check. JENI utilized its extremely delicate digital camera sensors to document the energized impartial atoms emitted by charged particles as they arrive into contact with Earth’s atmospheric hydrogen gasoline.
“I couldn’t have hoped for a greater flyby. The richness of the info from our deep-dive by way of the magnetosphere is astounding,” Pontus Brandt, APL’s principal investigator for JoEE and JENI, mentioned in Tuesday’s announcement. “JENI’s picture of all the system we simply flew by way of was the cherry on high. It’s a robust mixture we are going to exploit within the Jovian system.”
[Related: Jupiter’s moons are about to get JUICE’d for signs of life.]
Surviving the million-degree plasma clouds enveloping Earth is relatively straightforward on inanimate area probes. However the potential results of this area—also referred to as the Van Allen radiation belt—presents critical challenges for any prolonged human journeys to the moon and Mars. In line with NASA, the knowledge analyzed from JENI and JoEE will assist higher plan for these and different points surrounding the way forward for area journey.
As for JUICE, it’s now dashing in the direction of Venus, the place it can carry out an analogous gravitational slingshot in August 2025. Then it’s again to Earth for added passes in September 2026 and January 2029. In any case that, it’s lastly onward to Jupiter.
