The first video of an orbit of the Moon and Earth made JUICE on its way to Jupiter

The JUICE probe, en route to Jupiter, has "shared" images from its flybys of the Moon and Earth, resulting in a half-minute video produced by the European Space Agency (ESA).

The JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft passed by the Moon and Earth, embarking on a complex trajectory toward Jupiter. It executed a daring maneuver on August 19-20. The gravitational pull from the Moon and Earth will assist the spacecraft in reaching Venus.

The images were captured by two monitoring cameras on JUICE, designed to observe the spacecraft's antennas and other components. The flyby between the Moon and Earth also allowed ground control to test JUICE's scientific instruments, all ten of which were operational during the Moon flyby and eight during the Earth flyby.

"The timing and location of this double flyby enable us to thoroughly examine the performance of JUICE's instruments. This occurs at an early stage in JUICE's journey, allowing us to use the data to calibrate the instruments for their arrival at Jupiter. Given our extensive knowledge of the physical properties of the Earth, Moon, and surrounding space environment, it’s also an ideal opportunity to understand how the instruments respond to actual targets," said Claire Vallat, a project scientist.

The spacecraft is on an eight-year mission to Jupiter to study the potential habitability of its icy moons: Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. The gravitational forces of other planets facilitate the probe's acceleration and trajectory adjustments. The flyby near the Moon increased the spacecraft's speed by 0.9 km/s relative to the Sun and directed it toward Earth. After its close approach to Earth, JUICE's speed decreased by 4.8 km/s relative to the Sun, placing it on course to Venus.

The spacecraft will loop around Venus in August 2025 before heading back toward Earth. Following that, JUICE will conduct two more flybys around Earth, one in September 2026 and another in January 2029. Its arrival into Jupiter's orbit is scheduled for 2031. JUICE was launched in April 2023 from a spaceport in French Guiana, and its mission will last for 12 years.

Source: ESA