Tag: Europa
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Europe launches spacecraft on eight-year journey to explore Jupiter’s moons
A European Ariane 5 rocket lifts off from the Guiana Space Center with the Juicy Icy Moons Explorer mission. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/JM Guillon An Ariane 5 rocket took off from French Guiana Friday with the heaviest interplanetary science probe ever launched, kicking off a $1.7 billion European Space Agency mission on a decade-long quest to Jupiter’s…
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Live coverage: Ariane 5 rocket launches Europe’s first mission to Jupiter
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Ariane 5 rocket with the the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or JUICE, mission. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter. [tabby title=”SFN Live”] [tabbyending] Arianespace’s live video webcast will begin approximately one hour before…
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Lightning threat delays launch of Europe’s first mission to Jupiter
The Ariane 5 rocket after rollout to its launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana. Credit: ESA/S. Corvaja The liftoff of Europe’s first mission to Jupiter aboard an Ariane 5 rocket was scrubbed Thursday in French Guiana due to a high risk of lightning at the launch site, delaying until Friday the start of the JUICE…
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JUICE’s launch campaign in imagery
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated April 13 after scrub. These photos and a time lapse video from the European Space Agency chronicle the final preparations for launch of the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or JUICE, spacecraft from the Guiana Space Center on the second-to-last Ariane 5 rocket. Built by Airbus, the 13,142-pound (5,961-kilogram) JUICE spacecraft was installed on…
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Europe’s first mission to Jupiter poised for launch from South America
The European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or JUICE, spacecraft is buttoned up for launch inside the payload fairing of an Ariane 5 rocket. The illustration on the Ariane 5 payload fairing was the winning submission in a children’s art competition, drawn by eight-year-old Yaryna from Ukraine. Credit:ESA-Manuel Pedoussaut The European Space Agency’s $1.7…
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NASA decides to launch Europa Clipper on commercial rocket in 2024
Artist’s concept of the Europa Clipper spacecraft, with Europa and Jupiter in the background. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA has decided to launch the multibillion-dollar Europa Clipper mission on a commercial heavy-lift rocket in October 2024, and not on the government-owned Space Launch System, officials said Wednesday. The decision ends a prolonged dilemma for NASA, which until…
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NASA mission extension enables first flybys of Jupiter’s moons in 20 years
Artist’s concept of the Juno spacecraft at Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech In a pair of mission extensions, NASA has cleared the way for more seismic observations on Mars with the robotic InSight lander and approved plans for the Juno spacecraft to alter its orbit and perform close flybys of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, Ganymede, and the…