Spacecraft named JUICE, designed by ESA, performs a flyby of Venus during its journey towards Jupiter's icy moons, as documented on our website.

The European Space Agency's (ESA) probe, JUICE ("Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer"), is on its way to study Jupiter and its three largest moons: Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa. Recently, JUICE made a detour and flew by Venus during its journey to the Jovian system.

On Aug. 31, JUICE had a close encounter with Venus, with the closest approach occurring at 1:28 a.m. EST (0528 GMT). During this flyby, the ESA stated that JUICE used its main, high-gain antenna as a "thermal shield" to protect the probe from the intense heat of Venus' environment. Unfortunately, due to the extreme conditions, JUICE's sensors had to be turned off, preventing the collection of images.

The use of the high-gain antenna as a thermal shield is a clever strategy to maintain the probe's temperature and ensure its survival during close encounters with other planets. After the troubleshooting incident in July, all was well with the probe, and it continued its mission undeterred.

JUICE's trajectory will be further fine-tuned using the Earth flyby in 2026 and the gravity of Venus. This adjustment is essential to ensure that JUICE reaches its destination, Jupiter, in July 2031. After conducting one more orbit around the sun, JUICE will return to Earth a final time in January 2029.

Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, is considered a high-profile suspect in the search for life beyond Earth. Along with Ganymede and Callisto, these three moons are believed to harbour oceans under their icy crusts, making them potential candidates for life beyond our planet. JUICE's mission is to explore these moons and uncover more about their composition, structure, and potentially, the existence of life.

The JUICE spacecraft was built and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), with the ESA controlling the mission under its Cosmic Vision 2015–2025 program. The mission is managed and controlled primarily by ESA's teams, notably involving the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany.

As JUICE continues its journey, it will use the gravity of Venus this week to bend its orbit around the sun and gain speed relative to Earth without using fuel. This fuel-efficient strategy is a testament to the ESA's commitment to exploring the cosmos while minimising the use of resources.

Stay tuned for more updates on JUICE's mission as it approaches Jupiter and begins its study of the gas giant and its moons. The potential discoveries made by this mission could revolutionise our understanding of the solar system and the search for life beyond Earth.

Spacecraft named JUICE, designed by ESA, performs a flyby of Venus during its journey towards Jupiter's icy moons, as documented on our website.