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THE EUROPEAN SPACE Agency’s Juice craft will return to Earth tonight, taking part in a world first fly-by.
A team of three researchers from the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) will play a key role in the first ever attempt to fly a spacecraft past the Moon, and then past Earth.
Flight controllers from Esa will guide the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) past the Moon and then Earth.
The risky manoeuvre will take Juice on a shortcut to Jupiter via Venus, using the Moon’s gravity, and then Earth’s, as a natural brake – slowing itself down and then sling-shotting on to the next phase of its journey.
The mission launched in April 2023 on a 4.1 billion-mile journey which will take more than eight years and aims to investigate whether Jupiter’s three moons – Callisto, Europa and Ganymede – can support life.
Onboard are 10 scientific instruments, which will investigate whether the gas giant’s three moons – Callisto, Europa and Ganymede – can support life in its oceans.
Today from around 11.57pm into the early hours of Tuesday, Esa says a double world first will take place with the lunar-Earth fly-by and the double gravity assist manoeuvre.
The move will change Juice’s speed and direction to alter its course through space.
However, the slightest mistake could take the spacecraft off course and mean the end of the mission.
Commenting on DIAS’s role in the flyby, Professor Caitriona Jackman, head of the planetary magnetospheres research group at DIAS, said, “We will be monitoring the flyby with trepidation as it’s an extremely challenging undertaking – the slightest mistake could take Juice off course and spell the end of the mission.
“This is the first step in Juice’s journey through the solar system on its way to Jupiter. The spacecraft will use the gravity of the Moon and then Earth to bend its path through space and redirect it on course for a flyby of Venus in August 2025.
“This will help to ensure it arrives at Jupiter with the right speed and direction. It’s a journey that requires perfect accuracy and in-depth planning.”
#ESAJuice is coming back to Earth.
— ESA's Juice mission (@ESA_JUICE) August 18, 2024
Our fearless traveller is getting a nudge from the Moon and Earth next week, in the first of four flybys that will put Juice on precisely the right path to arrive at Jupiter in July 2031.
Details 👉 https://t.co/rKTJyvcOtg pic.twitter.com/9wcOmN8w7q
Jackman said that having the opportunity to test ideas about the spacecraft’s behaviour in the environment of a moon “is truly exciting and will be a huge boost in confidence for our research once Juice arrives at Jupiter”.
“The encounter of Earth’s moon is a practice-run for when we get to Jupiter, where we will study moons with underground oceans that might support life. I’m extremely proud of the work carried out by our research group so far, and that we can be part of such an important mission.”
Earth will bend Juice’s trajectory through space, redirecting it on course for a fly-by of Venus in August 2025.
From then on, the energy boosts will begin, with the spacecraft being sped up by Venus and then twice by Earth – the space exploration equivalent of drinking three back-to-back espressos.
The risky manoeuvres are needed because Jupiter is on average 800 million kilometres from Earth.
Without an enormous rocket, sending Juice straight to the gas giant would require an impossible 60,000kg of onboard propellant.
It would also need to carry a huge amount of additional propellant to slow itself down enough to go into orbit around Jupiter once it arrives, rather than simply zipping straight past and off into outer space.
The complex and constantly evolving route has been carefully planned out by the mission analysis team over the last 20 years.
Some keen stargazers may be able to spot Juice pass overhead, with the spacecraft flying directly over south-east Asia and the Pacific Ocean.
Powerful binoculars or a telescope will give them the best chance of seeing the spacecraft.
Two cameras on board Juice will be taking photos throughout the lunar-Earth flyby, which will be shared publicly as they are received on Earth.
With reporting from David Mac Redmond
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Apple are an awful shower of bastards altogether.
Sent from my iPhone.
Comment of the week!
About time, absolutely astonishing & disgraceful this company can only offer a 12 month warranty on its phones with base models costing €550. Most if not all other manufacturers offer 24 month warranties.
Name one
O let me see, I’ll spoil you, Samsung, HTC, Sony, Nokia, even the humble alcatel & hawuai to name but a few, is this enough for you?
Samsung 2 year warranty on a range of tablets
Apple really think they can do and say what they want… Though honestly anybody who listened to the crap they were spoofing them really must have had no clue, alot of them are apple zombies anyway who will do what they’re told. Know your rights when you buy something… You can return any purchase within a certain period after committing to buy something regardless of what any company tell you for a refund.. And to say they won’t cover any manufacturer fault in first 12 months is a joke… Make the biggest scene you can in the store and refuse to leave anywhere till it’s sorted… They’ll accept it then…!
My Sony xperia has a 24 month warranty.
Had am issue with an acer laptop when the hard drive went 6 weeks after purchase. All pc world would offer was a repair
And make do without the laptop.
Eh no you can’t stop misinforming people….
In law you are only entitled to your money back if you have purchased a faulty product(the most common one) or else if you can prove you have been misled during the sale or the product is not fit for purpose.
If you just change your mind as a consumer the retailer can technically tell you to go suck a lemon it’s your problem you changed your mind about the item.However most company’s will have an exchange (not refund)policy to be consumer friendly within a certain time period and some also may give money back on purchases in certain situations (or the whole time within a certain time period if that is the company policy)but they are not legally obliged to do so…
Apple has a 2 year warranty too – in Europe. They have to under European law.
That’s right, Emily. Nobody should allow themselves to be convinced that they are only covered by a 12 month warranty. European law makes 24 months the minimum.
Samsung warranties are a joke. They will tell you your phone has moisture damage and the warranty doesn’t apply. Google water damage Samsung.
Actually the European Consumer law is a little more hazy than you think. It doesn’t state you have a 2 year warranty, it says you have 2 years to make a claim. And Apple on their own site state that in most European jurisdictions the onus is on the consumer to prove there was a fault when the product was delivered. Either way, Apple are clearly a law unto themselves in their eyes. And either have little faith in their products lasting more than a year or are just the ultimate example of corporate greed. The latter me thinks….
By law you’re not entitled to a refund unless it’s faulty!
samsung 24 months send you a free jiffy bag to send the phone back to them to repair.and if like myself they cant repair it they replaced it with a newer model
By law the retailer can either refund, replace or repair an item which was not fit (faulty) for purpose. Not obliged to refund only. The choice lies with the retailer. You are correct about when customer just changes mind. No obligation whatsoever on the retailer to take it back.
Samsung
LG
Toshiba
Sony
er
Panasonic
Do I win?
Nokia
Funny you should say Samsung, their S4 is apparently waterproof but the bloody warranty doesn’t cover water damage.
Not sure were u got that info re waterproof, the S4 is certainly not and was never advertised as being so. The Z1 does claim some protection against water damage but all manufacturers will void a warranty if there is liquid or water damage.
The s4 is not waterproof. There is however a waterproof model called the s4 active.
The z1 does more than just claim some protection against water. It’s fully water proof. I have taken underwater videos and pics with it.
I bought a laptop from click.ie, nothing but trouble. All they are offering me was repairs. Found out later they are operating even though they are in liquidation.
Great isn’t it! Mine got a bit dusty at work and I just took it in the shower with me
Apple tried that crap on me over a charger, the folded when I asserted my rights. They put that as a ‘gesture’ they were replacing the faulty unit after 12 months when in fact they are legally obliged. Feel sorry for people who take their word and pay for repairs and replacements they are legally entitled to.
Thought this might be of interest http://www.apple.com/legal/additional_legal_rights.html. It’s post on the apple store website, the same rights extend to products from other manufacturers. People are seemingly obsessed with bitching about Apple, many issues with other companies, remember when Microsoft were the big evil monster corporation?
Much like many fanboys are obsessed with defending them. All in the same boat.
I remember very well when Microsoft were the bad guys. Apple was then the fair crowd and people would say how Apple would never be like Microsoft.
Time has shown us Apple are much much worse. The ideals the once stood for is gone completely. Mind you anybody who thought they wouldn’t do this were just being stupid.
Android battery life sucks balls. That is all.
I agree completely.
With Karl
Kal, good lord, being in the swamp with samsung and android fan boys has actually lowered my intelligence,
My galaxy note 3 has a 3200mAh battery and I can squeeze 2 days out it even with plenty of use, iphone I was lucky to get 2 hours.
The Galaxy Note is more a tablet than a phone. You should carry around an iPad if you like bigger screens. Excellent battery life. 2 hours from your iphone? – total BS. You wish you had an iphone more like.
I have a toshiba laptop 1 year later the fan went. They booked an Irish contractor who sent a courier to collect it, fixed in 5 days and returned no hassle.
How do ye think Apple would fare here? Is Irish consumer law strong enough? I doubt it, but….
Read the article before making stupid comments.
Wasn’t it only last year that in Europe Apple were forced to put an explainer on their websites homepage and they didn’t make it prominent enough and so were forced to make it bigger
As far as I am aware it is the customers reasonable expectation of the product that dictates the guarantee, you buy a cheap item and it is ok to expect it to last a 12 months, you pay a lot for an item and it is your expectation of the product. I use this argument all the time if goods fail, never let me down yet. I have has to threaten small claims court but no problems so far.
A lot of misunderstanding there, it’s actually quicker to deal directly with Apple, quicker and a more efficient service for repairs and service. People tend to be just afraid to make a phone call.
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