Overview

• ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) conducted a daring Moon-Earth flyby in August 2024, utilizing a double gravity assist maneuver.
• NASA's JENI instrument on JUICE captured the clearest images ever of Earth's radiation belts, showing a vast ring of hot plasma.
• The images reveal the structure of the Van Allen radiation belts, which are crucial for protecting Earth from cosmic and solar radiation.
• Data collected during the flyby will help scientists understand plasma heating and interactions in planetary magnetospheres.
• JUICE will use additional gravity assists from Venus and Earth before reaching Jupiter in July 2031 to study its atmosphere and moons.