Europe Successfully Launches Jupiter Probe Japan Joins

Europe Successfully Launches Jupiter Probe, Japan Joins in, Closing in on the Existence of Life

The European Space Agency (ESA) launched the JUICE spacecraft from French Guiana to Jupiter and its three satellites by Ariane 5 rocket on April 14, 2031-35, to conduct observations there to determine if there is an environment conducive to life and how Jupiter was involved in the formation of the current solar system. Japan also participated in the development of the instruments.

There is a theory that Jupiter was formed in a different place from the present location early in the formation of the solar system and migrated. At that time, it is believed that the planet's enormous gravity blew away smaller bodies and carried the atmosphere, oceans, and materials for living organisms to the area where the Earth is located.

Because Jupiter is a gas giant, its history cannot be determined by looking at its surface. Instead, the strategy is to investigate the materials that make up the three large ice-covered satellites Europa, Ganymede, and Calisto, as well as the heat content of their interiors, in order to discover Jupiter's past. It will also provide clues to estimate how many Earth-like planets exist outside the solar system.