JUICE rocket blasts off to find life on Jupiter

Colombo (News 1st) - A spacecraft named Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) lifted off on Friday (14) on an eight-year journey to Jupiter and its icy moons, in search of living organisms.

The mission took off at 2:14pm (12:14 GMT) from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, on the northeast coast of South America.

JUICE will explore three possible ocean-bearing moons – namely, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. 

The mission, led by the European Space Agency (ESA), is the first mission by the ESA to a Jovian orbit system and the first mission to a moon other than Earth’s.

Once JUICE arrives at Jupiter in July 2031, the spacecraft will spend about three and a half years orbiting the gas giant and conducting flybys of Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. JUICE can search the moons for evidence of the building blocks of life, including elements like carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, iron and magnesium.