Explained | Get the dope on JUICE, Europe’s mission to find aliens

The European Space Agency (ESA) successfully launch Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) on Friday (April 14). The launch took place from ESA spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. An Ariane 5 rocket lifted-off carrying JUICE probe at 9:14 am local time (1214 GMT). The path ahead is long and winding. The space probe will be in Jupiter's orbit by July 2031. Jupiter is 628 million kilometre away from our home planet.

The European Space Agency posted launch of JUICE on its social media handle. Check out the brilliant video.

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JUICE will make detailed observations of the giant gas planet and its three large ocean-bearing moons – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa – with remote sensing, geophysical and in situ instruments. The mission will explore themoons as possible habitats besides studying Jupiter’s complex environment.

So what will JUICE do during it's mission? Let's get the dope.

What is JUICE's mission?

Finding aliens! Quite literally.

We may be less than a decade away from finding signs of life (or life itself) in our solar system! Finding alien life has been a scientific pre-occupation for us for decades. The question, 'Are we are alone in the Universe?' has been on our mind for a long time. To find the answer, we have applied our minds and focussed our powerful lenses which have been scanning distant corners or deep space for decades. Our giant radio receptors are ever alert to catch a transmission from an alien civilisation. We have also sent space probes (Voyager 1 and 2) packed with information in hopes that someday aliens will find them and come to know about us.

But the answer may be closer to home than we think. Alien life may be present in our Solar System itself.

Where can aliens be in our Solar System?

There are several candidates. Jupiter, the biggest planet in our solar system has several satellites which have had scientists interested. Europa, in particular has been in focus.

Europa is an icy world. The surface of the planet is covered by extremely thick ice sheets. Ice is lighter than water, so wherever there's ice, there is a possibility of water underneath.

Scientist think that Europa has oceans of liquid water under its massive ice sheets. And we know from our own planet that water means life.

In theory at least, it is possible that Europa harbours life in liquid oceans below the surface. This may be a downer for those of us expecting insect like aliens with antennas on their head to exist in space. But even if we find definitive proof of sea creatures swimming in Europa's oceans, wouldn't it be insanely fantastic discovery?

In addition to Europa, JUICE will study Ganymede and Callisto, two more satellites of Jupiter.

How will JUICE search forlife?

Whenever we talk of life under Europa's ice sheets, first image that comes to mind is that of a human-made machine dutifully drilling the ice. This may sound easy enough until we know that Europa's ice sheets are thought to be between 16 and 24 kilometres thick!

Drilling to such depths is hard enough task on Earth, forget doing it on a frozen world millions of kilometres away. Logistics will be a major problem.

So how will JUICE manage?

It will make remote observations. But this will not be just clicking a random picture from the orbit. JUICE has 10 state-of-the-art scientific instruments onboard. It's high resolution mapping of the surface at different wavelengths will tell us about composition of the ice at the surface.

JUICE will also look for biological signatures, that it, chemicals that form as a result of various biological processes. If such chemicals are found, it will boost the possibility of existence of life on Europa.

JUICE is not expected to actually find extraterrestrial life. It definitely won't drop a fishing net to catch some Europan salmon. But its readings and observations will enable us to assess habitability of the satellite.

Why is JUICE taking 8 years to reach Jupiter?

JUICE launch on April 14 doesn't give it a straight highway ticket from Earth to Jupiter. The space probe is taking a long-winding route that'll see it taking 'gravity assists' from Earth, Moon, and Venus.

A 'gravity assist' is a technique by which a spacecraft takes help of gravitational field of a planet to get a speed boost. For gravity assist, the spacecraft needs to pass through the planet's gravitational field at a carefully calibrated exact point in order to get a 'slingshot effect'. Smallest of the mistakes during this manoeuvre results in the spacecraft getting pulled towards the planet and getting destroyed in an unfortunate crash.

"By the time the first solar orbit is complete, Earth has caught up with JUICE and the first gravity-assist manoeuvre can be performed. At this point, the spacecraft is deflected towards Venus and it falls in the direction of the Sun, increasing speed...After passing Venus, JUICE makes subsequent flybys of Earth, Mars...and Earth again before its rendezvous with Jupiter in October 2029," says the European Space Agency on its website.

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