How to See the Slingshot of Spacecraft Orbiting Earth Monday Night

The European Space Agency says it is monitoring and adjusting the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) as it attempts to navigate the spacecraft around the moon and Earth as part of a multi-part journey to the largest planet in our solar system.

JUICE will make a dangerous approach between August 19 and 20; the craft will be closest to Earth at approximately 12:00 am ET (UTC +02:00) on August 20.

ESA said in a statement that the spacecraft’s intended acrobatics – a lunar-Earth flyby and a double gravity assist maneuver – would be a “dual world first.” The gravity assist will change the speed and direction of the research vehicle, but adjusting it will be difficult, the agency explained. Even the smallest mistake “may disable JUICE and spell the end of the job,” ESA wrote.

JUICE began its journey with a launch in April 2023 and a trajectory adjustment seven months later. As it orbits past Earth and conducts internal instrument tests, the spacecraft will use gravity to slow down and “bend” toward Venus, orbiting the planet in August 2025 before heading back toward Earth. (Decreasing the descent is necessary to limit the amount of fuel needed to facilitate JUICE in orbit around other planets).

Then, the spacecraft will make two more loops around the Earth (one in September 2026 and the other in January 2029) to reach the right path and speed to enter Jupiter’s orbit in 2031. From there, JUICE will observe the fifth planet from the sun and its icy moons.

Ignacio Tanco, JUICE spacecraft operations manager, said the lunar-Earth flyby would be like “going through a very narrow tunnel, very fast: pushing the lander very high where the curb is just millimeters.”

Only lucky JUICE heads will be able to spot the craft using binoculars or high-powered binoculars, ESA said, as it flies “directly over eastern Asia and the Pacific Ocean.” The agency shared job trajectory data here. The easiest way to follow, however, will be to monitor the ESA account of the blog or X (formerly Twitter), which is where the agency plans to post the images taken by the two JUICE surveillance cameras during the flight on Monday night and early Tuesday morning.

Venus and Jupiter are not the only planets observed by the ESA spacecraft. The agency’s Mars Express Orbiter recently returned stunning images of the red planet’s “snake scar.” As for ESA’s US counterpart, NASA is looking for the help of private companies to send its rover to the moon. NASA has also sought help from private space companies as it plans to dismantle the $1 million International Space Station, after decommissioning the station at the end of 2030.