Gravity assist flybys planned for tonight and tomorrow
The European Space Agency's Juice probe is to thread the needle this week with a first for a space mission – swings around the Moon and Earth that will result in the spacecraft coming approximately 700 km from the lunar surface.. The probe is due to arrive in the Jupiter system in 2031 and will spend the following years touring the moons before settling into an orbit around Ganymede at the end of 2034.
ESA's constant ground coverage of the mission began over the weekend. Tonight, the spacecraft's science instruments and monitoring cameras will be switched on to observe the Moon as Juice swings by. The two cameras were used to monitor the deployment of the spacecraft's booms, antennas, and solar panels after launch. Using the same cameras to take pictures of the Moon is therefore an experiment. ESA, at 2116 UTC tonight, Juice will make its closest approach to the Moon.
Eventually, at 0610 UTC on August 21, the spacecraft's monitoring cameras will be switched off, and controllers can take a well-earned breather before thinking about the Venus flyby next year., the ESA Operations account noted that of the four opportunities to fine-tune the trajectory, only the first was required:"Flight Dynamics hit a bullseye on the first try!"
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