The JUICE mission of the European Space Agency is set to complete a new manoeuvre and break two records.
This is the first time the spacecraft will use two objects to carry out a gravity assist maneuver, and for the first time, it will also attempt Lunar-Earth flyby.
The Lunar-Earth Gravity Assist (LEGA) is likely to save JUICE many propellants, which the mission will use at a later stage.
This is a tough manoeuvre which was first planned 15 years ago and for this, the spacecraft should be launched at a precise second so that it is able to find the Earth and the Moon in the correct position.
How ESA’s JUICE mission will fly by the Moon and Earth?
The spacecraft will first go around the Moon at 21:16 UTC on Monday evening (August 19) while losing some of its speed.
After 25 hours, it is expected to approach Earth. Because of Earth, it will slow down further and go towards Venus, however, there will be no room for errors.
“It’s like passing through a very narrow corridor, very, very quickly: pushing the accelerator to the maximum when the margin at the side of the road is just millimetres,” said Spacecraft Operations Manager, Ignacio Tanco, in a statement.
“It’s a very important mission because we want to find out whether there are habitable places inside the icy moons, so Europa, Ganymede, or Callisto. That’s the main question of the mission,” said Dr Olivier Witasse, who is a planetary scientist working on the scientific aspects of the mission, while speaking to IFLScience.
Watch: Earth slows down by 1.33 milliseconds
According to the team, the fuel saved in this manoeuvre will help the JUICE mission orbit at nearly 200 kilometres (120 miles) from the surface of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede because of which the spacecraft will be able to make precise observations.
With the help of the flyby, the spacecraft will get in the right orbit and speed will make sure that the instruments are working well. This means that the scientists will be able to test a whole set of instruments during the flyby.
“This could not be done in the lab. This will be an excellent test to check the performance of the radar in the context of the full spacecraft operating,” said Nicolas Altobelli, planetary scientist with ESA, while speaking at a press conference.
(With inputs from agencies)