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Getting into orbit around another celestial body is hard. A spacecraft must approach with the perfect speed, from a precise angle, then execute a vital, big manoeuvre at just the right moment, in a specific direction and of the correct size.
Approaching too fast or slow, too shallow or steep, or manoeuvring at the wrong time, with the wrong amount or direction and you’re lost in space. Or you’re far enough off track that it will take a lot – perhaps too much – fuel to correct your path.
Juice will get close to Jupiter’s moons, trading energy with them that they’ve held onto for billions of years, to get a view of these environments like never before. Could there be life under the frozen oceans of Ganymede, Callisto or Europa? What can we learn about the formation of planets and moons throughout the Universe? Through the wonder of flight dynamics, by trading energy with the Universe, we will soon(ish) find out.
Follow @ESAJuiceBar on Twitter/X for updates on Juice’s progress to Jupiter, @ESA_Juice for all the latest about the mission, and @esaoperations for news from ESA’s Mission Control.