European Space Agency reveals forthcoming Announcement of Opportunity for the JUICE spacecraft
6 Jun 2012
The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced that in June 2012 it intends to release in an Announcement of Opportunity (AO) inviting the broad scientific community to propose instruments to be flown onboard the Jupiter Icy moons Explorer spacecraft.
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The illustration shows Jupiter and its large moons: Ganymede, Europa, Io and Callisto.
Credit: ESA. Artist: M. Carroll.
The JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) was selected by ESA's Science Programme Committee in May 2012 as the "L1" mission in the Cosmic Vision plan. The focus of the JUICE spacecraft is to characterize the conditions that may have led to the emergence of habitable environments among the Jovian icy satellites, with special emphasis on the three ocean-bearing worlds, Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto. The mission will also focus on characterizing the diversity of processes in the Jupiter system considered as an archetype for gas giants in the solar system and elsewhere.
Read an overview of the opportunity and view the provisional schedule for the AO.
The UK Space Agency is working with the JUICE community in the UK to prepare for the AO and the future instrumentation development programme for the mission. The level of this support will be reviewed in the normal way.
