Jupiter explorer JUICE ready for space simulation

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) future Jupiter exploring spacecraft JUICE, which will search for signs of life on the ice-covered moons in the Jovian system, is getting its first taste of a space-like environment in the Large Space Simulator at ESA’s facilities in the Netherlands. During a month-long test campaign, the spacecraft, built by European aerospace giant Airbus, will be subject to extreme temperature cycles, vacuum and radiation, similar to what it will experience on its journey to Jupiter.

Equipped with a suite of remote-sensing instruments, Juice will make detailed observations of Jupiter and its three large ocean-bearing moons – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa – searching for possible chemical signatures of life. –Tereza Pultarova