The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) is now on track for its gravity-assist flyby at Venus on 31 August, following the successful resolution of a communication anomaly that temporarily disrupted contact with Earth.
A software timing bug was identified as the root cause of the issue, which had emerged during a routine ground station pass on 16 July. Attempts to reach Juice via ESA’s New Norcia station also failed, prompting engineers to suspect a misalignment of the spacecraft’s medium-gain antenna or failure in the signal transmitter or amplifier.
A team of experts worked tirelessly for 20 hours to troubleshoot and repair the issue, using “blind” commanding techniques to steer Juice back towards Earth. Eventually, a successful command was established, re-establishing contact with the spacecraft and confirming that all systems were nominal.
With the anomaly behind them, the Juice team has refocused on preparations for the Venus flyby, which will provide the spacecraft with a significant boost in speed relative to Earth. The successful recovery of Juice’s communications is seen as a “textbook example” of teamwork under pressure by Angela Dietz, Juice Spacecraft Operations Manager.
The mission aims to make detailed observations of Jupiter and its three large ocean-bearing moons – Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa – using a powerful suite of remote sensing, geophysical, and in situ instruments. The spacecraft is designed for the cold, dark environment of Jupiter but must adapt to the intense solar heat near Venus.
Juice will pass its closest point to Venus on 31 August as it completes the second of four planned gravity assists. The spacecraft will use these flybys to gain speed relative to Earth and eventually reach the required Jupiter transfer velocity in September 2026, making it humankind’s next bold mission to the outer Solar System.
Source: https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/Juice_team_resolves_anomaly_on_approach_to_Venus