Watch Stunning Timelapse of First Ever Lunar-Earth Flyby

A Jupiter probe precocious pulled disconnected the archetypal treble satellite flyby, capturing beauteous views of the Moon and Earth during a speedy shortcut done the interior star system.

The European Space Agency (ESA) released footage from JUICE’s lunar-Earth flyby, which sent the spacecraft towards Venus en way to the Jovian system. The 1.5 infinitesimal video shows JUICE approaching the Moon and flying past its cratered aboveground into the acheronian of abstraction earlier the bluish hue of Earth appears successful the frame.

JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) performed the risky maneuver connected August 19-20, utilizing the gravity of the Moon and Earth to nonstop it connected a way towards Venus. “The gravity assistance flyby was flawless, everything went without a hitch, and we were thrilled to spot JUICE coming backmost truthful adjacent to Earth,” Ignacio Tanco, spacecraft operations manager for JUICE, said successful a statement.

The footage was captured by JUICE’s 2 monitoring cameras, which are designed to show the spacecraft’s booms and antennas. The lunar-Earth flyby besides gave crushed power the accidental to trial JUICE’s technological instruments, with each “ten of them switched connected during the lunar flyby and 8 turning connected during the Earth flyby.

“The timing and determination of this treble flyby allows america to thoroughly survey the behaviour of Juice’s instruments,” Claire Vallat, JUICE operations scientist, said successful a statement. “It happens aboriginal capable successful Juice’s travel that we tin usage the information to hole the instruments for accomplishment astatine Jupiter. And fixed however good we cognize the carnal properties of Earth, the Moon, and the surrounding abstraction environment, it’s besides the perfect determination to recognize however the instruments respond to a existent target.”

The spacecraft is connected a eight-year travel to Jupiter to research its icy moons for signs of habitability. Using the gravitational unit of the Moon and Earth, JUICE altered its velocity and absorption to alteration its trajectory. The flyby of the Moon accrued the spacecraft’s velocity by 0.5 miles per 2nd (0.9 kilometer per second) comparative to the Sun, which guided the spacecraft towards Earth. After its adjacent brushwood with Earth, JUICE’s velocity was reduced by 2.9 miles per 2nd (4.8 kilometer per second) comparative to the Sun, guiding it towards a caller trajectory towards Venus.

The spacecraft volition loop astir Venus successful August 2025 earlier heading backmost towards Earth. Afterwards, JUICE volition execute 2 much flybys astir its location planet, 1 successful September 2026 and different successful January 2029. JUICE’s maneuvers done the star strategy are designed to enactment it connected the close way and assistance it scope the close velocity to participate Jupiter’s orbit successful 2031.

JUICE launched successful April 2023 from Europe’s Spaceport successful French Guiana. Just hours aft liftoff, the spacecraft captured the archetypal moments of its 12-year mission, dedicated to studying 3 of Jupiter’s icy moons: Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

More: JUICE spacecraft Sends Farewell Photos of Earth arsenic it Heads for Jupiter