Interplanetary station JUICE fails to deploy key instrument - mission to search for life on Jupiter's moon in jeopardy

The European Space Agency (ESA) launched the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) interplanetary space station about a fortnight ago. Its mission is to search for biological life on Jupiter's satellites. However, the mission has been threatened because the spacecraft has been unable to deploy one of its key instruments.

Here's What We Know

ESA has reported that the interplanetary station JUICE is unable to deploy subsurface radar. Without it, the spacecraft will not be able to fully survey the satellites Callisto, Ganymede and Europa.

The instrument to be deployed is called Radar for Icy Moons Exploration (RIME). It is equipped with an antenna measuring 16 meters and will be able to study the oceans of Jupiter's satellites at a depth of 9 km under the ice.

ESA experts had to fold up the radar in order to securely mount JUICE on a launch vehicle. The antenna can't fully unfold because of a jammed pin.

Scientists have come up with several ways to fix the problem. Fortunately, the problem area falls within the field of view of the onboard camera. The space agency's specialists are now monitoring the deployment of the radar and claim it's moving out little by little. Scientists plan to deploy JUICE to the Sun, so that the problem area heated up and the antenna was able to fully deploy.

Source: ESA