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15 November 2021
We received astounding works of art from kids in 63 countries who put their personal touch on Europe’s mission to the largest planet in our Solar System, the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE). Thank you to all participants for your creativity and for your patience as the judges carefully reviewed over 2600 entries!
All drawings deserved to be the winners, but a choice had to be made and it was not easy. The judges have selected 12 finalists whose artwork will feature in the “JUICE & children of the world” calendar, plus the winner whose art will appear on the Ariane 5 rocket launching the spacecraft and on the cover of the calendar.
Here’s the winning artwork, which was submitted by 8-year-old Yarna from Ukraine:
The judges selected this image for the combination of representativeness of the mission, including the main elements like Jupiter, its icy moons and the spacecraft; the “childish” smile on their “faces”; the effort of us on Earth delivering JUICE to the gas giant system; the colorful composition; the cheerfulness it transmits; and, last but not least, the defined and clear images that will ensure the artwork is visible on the nose of the launcher.
The finalists for the calendar are: Bianca (9), from Italy; Chenitha (5) from Sri Lanka; Jan (9) from Spain; Leif (10) from Germany; Lilla (11) from Slovakia; Nikolas (10) from Switzerland; Nils (6) from Estonia; Panna (7) from Hungary; Ron (11) from Israel; Samuel (4) from El Salvador; Samuel (5) from France; Sophia (9) from the UK!
The judges were charmed by the artistic interpretations of Jupiter, its moons and the spacecraft that will soon set off to study them.
Honourable mention goes to Zsombor (11) from Slovakia, whose artwork showing children of the world coming together wonderfully captured the spirit of this competition and of space exploration in general, and will be featured on the calendar’s back cover.
Congratulations to the winner and finalists. We will be contacting you shortly with more information about your prizes, so check your email.
“I was very impressed by the massive response of the children and the quality of their works,” said JUICE project manager Giuseppe Sarri. “Some drawings are very precise, almost technical, others are very artistic. There were sketches, paintings and cartoons and all together they were able to capture the complexity, the beauty and human endeavor of the JUICE mission. All of these drawings went deep in my heart.”
A round of applause to all the participants who shared their artwork with us. Explore them in this gallery.
The JUpiter ICy moons Explorer, or JUICE, will study the largest planet in our Solar System, Jupiter. Launching in 2023, it will travel for about 9 years before it arrives at its destination. It will spend 4 years investigating this giant gaseous planet and three of its largest moons, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. The spacecraft will explore the stormy atmosphere of Jupiter and discover the secrets hiding in the icy oceans of Jupiter’s moons. In particular, it will look for water inside these moons, and where there is water there could be life!
We are proud to have the children of the world taking part in Europe’s journey to Jupiter! Stay tuned for more news and updates on the JUICE mission on ESA Kids website and social media.