Juice spacecraft completes historic lunar-Earth flyby, sets course for Venus

ISTANBUL

The European Space Agency's (ESA) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) spacecraft has successfully completed a historic lunar-Earth flyby, using the gravity of the Moon and Earth to adjust its trajectory towards Venus on its way to Jupiter.

According to an ESA announcement on Wednesday, the closest approach to the Moon occurred at 2115GMT on Monday, followed by the closest approach to Earth nearly 24 hours later at 2156GMT on Tuesday.

During the flyby, Juice captured a series of images with its onboard monitoring cameras and collected scientific data with eight of its 10 instruments, the agency reported.

Ignacio Tanco, the mission's spacecraft operations manager, described the gravity assist flyby as "flawless, everything went without a hitch."

The lunar flyby increased Juice's speed by 0.9 km/s (0.55 miles) relative to the Sun, guiding it towards Earth. The subsequent Earth flyby then reduced Juice's speed by 4.8 km/s relative to the Sun, redirecting it onto a new trajectory towards Venus, which it is expected to reach in Aug. 2025, according to the agency.

Juice Operations Scientist Claire Vallat explained that the timing and location of this double flyby allowed the mission team to thoroughly test the spacecraft's scientific instruments in space.

Juice, launched in April 2023, is the first large-class mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision program.

The successful lunar-Earth flyby marks a significant milestone for the mission, saving around 100-150 kg of fuel and setting the stage for Juice's journey to Jupiter.