The Juice probe flew over the Earth in a manoeuvre never done before

Passing through a narrow corridor between the Moon and the Earth to get the initial thrust needed to reach Jupiter and its icy moons: this is the unprecedented manoeuvre carried out by the European Space Agency's Juice probe and in which Italy plays a leading role with the Italian Space Agency, universities, public research bodies and industry.

Juice snaps Moon en route to Earth

View of our cratered Moon at the top of the image, as captured by the Juice monitoring camera 1 (JMC1) at 23:25 CEST on 19 August 2024, soon after Juice made its closest approach to the Moon. On the left side of the image we see parts of the spacecraft itself.]

Late Monday evening, scientists found a way to harness the gravity of the Moon and then the Earth in quick succession to guide the Juice probe towards Jupiter in the first ever double-sling manoeuvre.

As planned, at 11.15pm on 19 August Juice skimmed over the Moon, passing at a distance of just 750 kilometres, and in the meantime took some photos and started testing some of the on-board instruments. Having successfully completed this first phase of the manoeuvre, the Juice probe is scheduled to pass just 6,840 km from Earth at 23:56 today.

It is the most complex manoeuvre ever attempted so far, of the three planned on the long journey to Jupiter. Two more close passes with Earth are planned in 2026 and 2029, and arrival at the Solar System giant is expected in 2031

"In itself it is a bit complicated, because you would have to correct any errors and for that you would need propellant," Nicolas Altobelli, JUICE mission manager, said in an interview.