Earth Is Snapped By JUICE, And The Moon Is Hiding On The Sides As Uranus Photobombs

The European Space Agency’s JUICE probe recently mesmerized the world with its breathtaking image showcasing Earth, the moon, and a distant planetary neighbor. 

This remarkable image was captured as part of the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission, which is now en route towards Venus. 

During its journey, the spacecraft is scheduled to perform a critical second gravity assist maneuver in 2025, further advancing its mission objectives and scientific discoveries.

Launched on April 14, 2023, the probe captured a striking image of Earth, the moon, and Uranus. The European Space Agency (ESA) posted the image on social media.

Uranus can be seen as a tiny dot in the background

ESA, on a post on X, wrote “These two little marbles we call our cosmic home were photographed by JUICE from over 5 million km [3 million miles], as the spacecraft waved us goodbye while heading towards Venus,”

Uranus can be seen as a tiny dot in the background. ESA representatives stated in the X post “One oversaturated image brought to light a photobomber: planet Uranus, which was 2.9 billion km [1.8 billion miles] away from JUICE, Can you spot which dot is the planet?”

“Say cheese, again!”

With the moon skulking on the sides, Earth can be seen much more clearly in another image released by ESA.

ESA wrote “Say cheese, again! Juice’s scientific camera, JANUS, had a go too at snapping an Earth–Moon portrait, as it sailed off towards Venus,” 

The images were taken as part of the spacecraft’s two monitoring cameras’ in-flight testing and calibrations. JUICE will use Venus’s gravity to push its way into the Jupiter system by gravity assist, which it is anticipated to reach in 2031. 

It will make another flyby of Earth on its way back.

When JUICE finished its historic flyby of Earth and the moon in August, it was one instance of such a gravity assist. The spacecraft was propelled toward Venus by Earth’s gravity, and from there it will travel through the inner Solar System to Jupiter more quickly.

JUICE Spacecraft Operations Manager Ignacio Tanco said “The gravity assist flyby was flawless; everything went without a hitch, and we were thrilled to see Juice coming back so close to Earth,”

There are two more scheduled gravity assists to help get it to the Jupiter system with the least amount of fuel. These are scheduled for 2026 and 2029. 

When JUICE flew merely 6840 km above Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, it already captured several pictures of Earth and the moon. 

The mission will investigate Jupiter and its three major moons, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, which are all thought to have oceans.

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