Thursday, the European Space Agency launches its space probe, " Juice ", on a journey to Jupiter that will last for eight years, in an effort to find out if there are environments conducive to life on the giant planet of the solar system, and on its icy moons.

The "Ariane 5" rocket is scheduled to take off from the Kourou base in French Guiana on Thursday on its penultimate flight (it will be replaced by "Ariane 6") carrying the probe whose name consists of the initials of the phrase "Jupiter Icy Moons explorer". .

The project manager of the "Arianespace" group, Veronique Loiselle, explained in a press conference that the probe, which weighs more than six tons and was designed by the "Airbus" company with its ten scientific tools, will be pushed to a height of 1,500 km before being transferred to orbit.

And then begins the journey of "Joss", which is expected to arrive in the year 2031 to its final destination, located about 628 million km from Earth. The probe's journey will be long and winding because it does not have enough energy to reach Jupiter via a direct path.

Goose will be able to continue his journey with the benefit of gravity, relying on the use of the force of attraction of other planets, similar to the technology of the catapult. It will fly first over the Moon and the Earth, then over Venus in 2025, then over the Earth again in 2029, before heading towards the giant solar system and its icy moons that Galileo discovered 400 years ago.

The temperature in which the probe will be present during its journey will vary, as it is 250 degrees above zero when it passes over Venus, compared to 230 degrees below zero around Jupiter, as explained by Carole Larigaudry, head of the "Joss" project at the French National Center for Space Studies. Which necessitated that it be equipped with a multi-layer insulating cover to ensure that its tools are kept at a constant temperature.

Another challenge is enabling GOSS to conserve energy, since sunlight is twenty-five times weaker than it is on Earth. Hence, it has been equipped with solar panels totaling 85 square metres, the size of a basketball court, in order to store "maximum photons".

Upon reaching its destination after traveling a distance of two billion kilometers, "Goose" must enter the orbit of Jupiter by means of a risky braking operation.

"Joss" will explore the Jupiter system, that is, the giant planet itself and its main moons, which are the volcanic Io and the three frozen satellites accompanying it, Europe, Ganymede and Callisto, noting that other probes have previously paved the way for this mission, including "Galileo" and "Juno".

Olivier Weetas, scientific director of the "Joss" project at the European Space Agency, said that it is "a mini solar system whose study will allow to enhance understanding of how the solar system was formed" to which the Earth follows.

The weather, magnetic fields, and satellite interdependence will be some of the information that will help Joss in his main mission, which is to find habitable environments, that is, suitable for life forms.

The probe focuses on Ganymede, the largest moon of the solar system, and also the only one that has its own magnetic field that protects it from radiation. Goose is scheduled to enter Ganymede's orbit in 2034, which would be a first.

The available data on Ganymede make it, like Europa, one of the best moons whose habitability can be studied. "This does not mean that we will find life on it, but we want to know if its presence on it is possible," said the planetary scientist at the French National Center for Space Studies.

Beneath the icy crust, the two moons hide vast oceans of liquid water, which are the main condition for the emergence of life forms.
It is assumed that the tools provided to the vehicle (such as an optical camera, spectrophotometer, radar, altimeter, magnetometer, etc.) will allow the determination of the characteristics of this ocean to see if it can harbor forms of life. "We have no idea" which one of these forms might be possible, said Francis Rocard.

But by extrapolating from what is known about terrestrial life in extreme environments, scientists believe that primitive microorganisms such as bacteria could exist.

The data that Joss will collect will be complemented by NASA's Europa Clipper probe, which will also be sent in 2024 to study Europa.

JOS, with a total cost of 1.6 billion euros, is the first European mission to enter the outer solar system, which begins after Mars.

The launch of the probe comes in the midst of a space missile crisis afflicting Europe, as it almost no longer has the ability to conduct independent flights into space, given the withdrawal of the Russian “Soyuz” missiles from Kourou, the delay of “Ariane 6” and the failure of the first commercial “Vega” flight.