The European Space Agency’s (ESA) JUICE spacecraft, bound for the Jupiter system, has regained contact with Earth ahead of a crucial flyby of Venus on Sunday. The probe lost contact for nearly a full day leading up to the encounter, which was caused by a communications glitch.
JUICE will reach its target in July 2031, studying the gas giant and three of its four big Galilean moons – Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa. The second of four gravity-assist planetary flybys will occur this Sunday, when JUICE buzzes by Venus.
A communications ping with the deep space antenna in Cebreros, Spain, failed to establish a connection with JUICE on July 16. Engineers ruled out a malfunction in the communications infrastructure and narrowed down the problem to two possibilities: a misalignment with JUICE’s medium-gain antenna or an issue with the comms system’s amplifier.
Mission operators attempted to force-realign JUICE’s medium-gain antenna, succeeding after six transmissions. Once communications were reestablished, the spacecraft was found to be in a healthy condition. Technicians traced the malfunction to a glitch in JUICE’s timing software that was responsible for powering the probe’s communications amplifier.
With communications reestablished, preparations for JUICE’s upcoming Venus flyby on schedule. The probe will steal a small fraction of Venus’ orbital momentum, helping propel it toward its next planetary flyby in September 2026.
Source: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/missions/europe-regains-contact-with-juice-jupiter-probe-ahead-of-crucial-aug-31-venus-flyby