The European Space Agency has published a series of images taken by the JUICE probe. They show our planet from a distance of five million kilometers.
On August 19 and 20, the JUICE spacecraft made a double flyby of the Moon and Earth. This rendezvous was the first link in a complex chain of gravitational maneuvers. JUICE took advantage of the gravity of our planet and its companion to change its trajectory and head toward Venus. In the future, the probe will perform a number of other maneuvers that will allow it to reach Jupiter. The goal of its mission is to study the three largest icy moons of the gas giant — Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.
After completing the flyby of the Moon and Earth, mission specialists conducted a series of tests to ensure that all JUICE systems continue to operate normally. Among other things, they took several calibration images. They show our planet and its faithful companion in the vast expanse of the space ocean. The photo was taken from a distance of five million kilometers.
JUICE also took a photo with a long exposure on which, in addition to the Earth and the Moon, you can also see stars. However, one of them is actually not a star, but Uranus. At the time of the photo, it was at a distance of 2.9 billion kilometers from JUICE.
JUICE will reach Venus in August 2025. After that, it will return to Earth twice (in 2026 and 2029). The spacecraft is expected to enter orbit around Jupiter in the summer of 2031.
