Finland Times

The planets Jupiter (L), Venus (C) and Mercury (R) are seen in an unusual conjunction setting over the Wupatki pueblo ruin on May 24, 2013 at Wupatki National Monument north of Flagstaff, Arizona. Photo - AFP / Lehtikuva.

The Finnish Meteorological Institute will launch a space mission to Jupiter to study the formation and dynamics of the largest planet in the solar system and examine the possibilities of life in the Galilean moons.  

 

The Finnish astronomers, as part of the mission of European Space Agency (ESA), will send the spacecraft JIUCE (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) to the Jovian system with particular focus on studying three of Jupiter’s four moons -- Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.   

 

The proposed timeline, as per the ESA schedule, for the launch is in 2022 on an Ariane 5 carrier rocket which will arrive in the Jupiter system by 2030. The spacecraft should enter orbit around Ganymede by 2033 after completing movements around the planet and the other moons, according to the ESA.

 

The ESA spacecraft is expected to provide information on gas particles, surface and internal composition surrounding the Jupiter and its moons.

 

The astronomers believed existence of an active ocean under the frozen surface of Europa and expected that the mission would able to give further information about the entire solar system and the possibility of life there.