Extraterrestrial Life: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE)
In 2023, the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) will start its 7-year journey to Jupiter’s three icy moons: Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. The spacecraft is commissioned by the European Space Agency (ESA) and will carry 11 science instruments developed by teams from all over Europe, the United States and Japan. The University of Bern provides the Neutral Ion Mass Spectrometer (NIM), an instrument designed to measure the chemical composition of the tenuous atmospheres of the moons.
There is evidence that the three moons harbour voluminous oceans beneath their ice crusts. The resemblance of these subsurface oceans to Earth’s deep-sea environment suggests that they could be habitable for microbial life. For this reason, Europa is widely considered the most promising place to search for life beyond Earth. Among many other science goals, JUICE will therefore try to sample ocean water erupting from cracks in Europa’s ice crust and analyse it for organic molecules that may indicate the presence of life.
Learn more about JUICE and NIM:
University of Bern, Physics Institute: https://www.juice.space.unibe.ch
European Space Agency: https://www.sci.esa.int/web/juice
Disclaimer:
The illustrations and animations shown in this video are artist’s impressions. Distances and sizes are not drawn to scale. Animated spacecraft trajectories do not represent the actual mission plan.
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