The European Space Agency's JUS spacecraft is due to return to Earth tonight for a “world first” flyby.
Flight controllers will guide the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE), which is loaded with British-made scientific instruments, to the Moon and then to Earth.
The risky maneuver will take Juice on a shortcut to Jupiter via Venus, using the gravity of the Moon and then Earth as natural brakes to slow it down and slingshot it to the next stage of its journey.
The mission is scheduled to launch in April 2023 and will cover 4.1 billion miles over eight years.
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5:15 Jupiter probe launch
The probe is equipped with 10 scientific instruments that will investigate whether the oceans of three of Jupiter's moons – Callisto, Europa and Ganymede – could support life.
Experts from the European Space Agency (ESA) acknowledge that even the slightest mistake could send the spacecraft off course and mean the end of the mission.
Two world firsts will take place between about 11:57 p.m. Monday and early Tuesday morning: a moon-Earth flyby and a double gravity assist maneuver, the agency said.
This movement changes the speed and direction of the juice, altering its course through space.
Earth plans to bend Juice's orbit in space, redirecting it on a course that will take it past Venus in August 2025.
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1:29 First European exploration of Jupiter
From then on, the energy build-up begins, with the spacecraft being accelerated by Venus, then accelerated twice as fast by Earth.
Keen skywatchers might be able to see the Juice pass overhead as it flies directly over Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean.
If you have a good pair of binoculars or a telescope, you'll have the best chance of seeing the spacecraft.
The two cameras on board JUICE will take pictures during the close flyby of the Moon and Earth, which will be released once received on Earth.
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Jupiter is an average of 800 million kilometers away from Earth, making this a risky maneuver.
Without a giant rocket, sending the juice directly to the gas giant would require a payload of 60,000 kilograms of propellant, which would be impossible.
The UK Space Agency has invested around £9 million into Juice, which will carry a range of imaging equipment, a system for recording the surfaces of Jupiter's moons, and scientific instruments including sensors to probe the atmosphere.
The UK helped develop two of these instruments and led the construction of another instrument which measures magnetic fields, the magnetometer (J-MAG).
Dr Caroline Harper, head of space science at the UK Space Agency, said the maneuver was “challenging” and required “incredibly precise navigation”.
“This is a world first – a double flyby of the Moon and Earth has never been done before. Even the slightest mistake could send Juice off course,” she said.
“This will save a lot of fuel and allow us to do a lot more scientific research when the juice reaches its destination.”
