The European Space Agency’s JUICE probe launched in April this year
ESA/Stephane Corvaja
Space missions are carefully planned and designed, with routes through the solar system meticulously mapped out. Deviating from these plans requires a compelling reason. In 2005, during NASA’s Cassini mission to Saturn, a physicist named Michele Dougherty asked for a closer look at Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, and what was discovered was remarkable: massive plumes of water vapor erupting from cracks at the moon’s south pole.
Today, Michele Dougherty, now the principal investigator on the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), is eager to make further unusual discoveries. The goal of the JUICE mission, which launched in April, is to investigate whether Jupiter’s moons have the necessary conditions to support life.
Jupiter has numerous moons, but JUICE will primarily focus on three of its largest moons: Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. After flying by these three moons, JUICE will enter orbit around Ganymede.
Michele Dougherty
Nabil Nezzar
Dougherty discusses the importance of being open to unexpected secrets that may be hidden beneath the icy surfaces of these moons and shares her plans to uncover them.
Becca Caddy: How did it feel to change the course of the Cassini mission to explore Enceladus?
