During the wee hours of this morning (Aug. 31), a boxy spacecraft with solar wings in the shape of crosses flew right by Venus — if all went according to plan.
That probe is the European Space Agency’s (ESA) JUICE (“Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer”), which is on its way to do just what you might expect after hearing its name.
The ultimate goal is indeed for JUICE to study our solar system’s creamsicle-colored gas giant, but also to gather data about three of the planet’s largest moons — Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa. These three moons are believed to harbor oceans under their icy crusts, meaning they could be solid leads in astronomers’ quest to find life beyond Earth. Europa in particular is a high-profile suspect for that agenda.