- On April 13, the ESA should launch the JUICE probe to Jupiter
- Ultra-efficient, it will only consume 790 watts, as much as a toaster
- Sobriety is an obligation in space, a necessity on Earth
Electricity makes it possible to do great things. With just 790 watts, ESA has managed to build an entire probe capable of traveling millions of miles from Earth to give us valuable information about Jupiter and three of its moons.
This device, the European space agency named it JUICE for (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer). With the same electrical power as a toaster, the probe will be able to travel around Ganymede, Europa and Calisto, three of Jupiter’s most interesting moons.
JUICE: the nectar of European exploration
Less than 15 days from its launch, JUICE has already made history. If the launch is scheduled for April 13 from Kourou, the probe has already achieved several feats. Its electricity consumption is one of the key points of this mission. Around Jupiter the rays of the Sun are much less powerful than on Earth.
At such a distance from our star they will not be able to capture much energy. ESA engineers therefore had no other choice, they had to succeed in making the 285 kilograms of scientific equipment as economical as possible.
There was also no question of embarking huge batteries, capable of holding out during the three years of missions. Tsiolkovsky’s law requires that each kilogram sent into orbit requires additional resources. In order to limit the expenses of this XXL mission, the ESA has instead opted for rationing, hoping that the 85 m2 of solar panels will do their job well.
Rationing, an obligation in space
This problem of energy rationing, JUICE is not the first mission to encounter it. In the ISS alone, “only” 400 km from Earth, all resources are reused. For the space world, the search for autonomy is a sine qua none condition for the advancement of human exploration.
If one day NASA wants to go beyond Mars, it will be necessary to imagine journeys of several decades (with the current modes of launches), the astronauts will therefore have to be able to carry out a totally autonomous daily life as well for energy, food or the air but also less visible resources such as creative hobbies or sports activities.
Space leads the way
Aware of this need to minimize its resources, ESA launched a major consultation on the subject in April 2022. Eventually the ISS and the future “Gateway” station should be the first models of this search for a perfect circular system. But all these advances made in orbit will have a direct impact on Earth. While the latest IPCC report calls into question (once again) our current way of life, the search for sobriety is on everyone’s mind.
For several months, the initial ecological motivations have been joined by economic and political reasons. With the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, inflation caused the price of energy to explode and there again sobriety becomes obvious.
In the absence of a theoretical model to limit our consumption of resources, humanity could be right to raise its eyes to the sky and follow the operation of the ten scientific instruments on board the JUICE probe. After all, they consume as much as your toaster.
