Six weeks after launch, the in-orbit deployment of the Juice spacecraft to the moons of Jupiter was completed. This was announced by the European Space Agency.
After placing all the solar panels, antennas and various components that had been ‘packed’ to resist the launch, the probes and antennas of the RPWI (Radio & Plasma Wave Investigation) instrument were arranged as the last step. Its operation has been verified by the teams on the ground as well as that of the J-mag, Radem, Gala instruments and the Italian optical camera Janus (Jovis, Amorum ac Natorum Undique Scrutator).
The latter instrument was activated last week, when Juice was already 8 million kilometers from the Earth: to verify all its hardware and software functions, Janus was commanded almost in real time by the European space operation center (Esoc ) in Darmstadt.
The instrument (built by Leonardo under the responsibility of the Italian Space Agency with the contribution and scientific guidance of the Parthenope University of Naples and the National Institute of Astrophysics) is equipped with a system of 13 filters (five broadband and eight narrowband) distributed in the spectral range from visible to near infrared. When the scientific data collection phase begins, it will make it possible to investigate the moons Ganymede, Callisto and Europa to try to understand if they can host life forms under their frozen surface. Janus will also collect data on the intense volcanic activity of Io, on Jupiter’s ring system and on the processes taking place in its atmosphere.
Source: Ansa
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