The Juice spacecraft completed its flyby of the Moon and Earth en route to Jupiter

Space became the protagonist of an ambitious mission Juice ExplorerIt is intended for a comprehensive study Thursday and its moons.

Jupiter's Icy Moon Explorer (Extract)Powered by European Space Agency (ESA)took advantage of the combined gravity of the moon and the the land to correct its course in a maneuver described as “inherently dangerous,” according to reports CBS News.

flyover the landCompleted on August 20, followed an approach the moon the previous day. Both maneuvers were conducted between 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM ET that In a statement cited by the company EFE.

This approach the landDuring this Juice Crossing Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, correcting its space trajectory and conserving fuel are critical to ensure the long-term sustainability of the mission.

Ignacio DancoThe mission operations manager highlighted the flight dynamics team's navigation accuracy. that: “Thanks to very precise navigation, we were able to use only a minimal portion of the thrust allocated for this flyby, which adds margins that can be used to extend the science mission once it reaches Jupiter.”

During his time Earth and Moon, Juice It carried out tests of its science instruments, capturing high-resolution images that will be released in the coming weeks. Now Juice will continue its journey towards VenusIt will arrive in August 2025 for another gravity assist maneuver, before it will be relaunched the land.

It is planned that Juice Make two additional flybys of our planet, one in September 2026 and another in January 2029, before finally arriving. Thursday In July 2031.

in the system Thursday, Juice It will make detailed observations of the gas giant and its three largest moons: Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. Work with remote sensing, geophysical and in situ measurement tools, These moons explore the possibility of living in the past or present. Additionally, the browser monitors the environment Thursday To understand how it interacts with its moons.

In total, Juice Conducting 35 flybys of these moons, the effort will collect significant data on the composition and composition of these icy bodies.