The Famous Crater with a New Purpose
Nearly 60 years after the iconic "Earthrise" photograph captured humanity's view of our home planet from the moon, the very crater featured in the foreground of that historic image is playing a crucial role in a new scientific endeavor. The impact crater, formerly known as "Pasteur T" and now renamed "Anders' Earthrise" in honor of Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders, spans nearly 25 miles (40 kilometers) across the lunar far side.
While countless people have gazed upon this crater through the lens of history, a cutting-edge spacecraft has now provided a new perspective, this time with the tantalizing prospect of finding extraterrestrial life in mind.
JUICE: A Giant Leap for Solar System Exploration
The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft, launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in April 2023, is on its long journey to Jupiter, with an expected arrival in 2031. Before it reaches the gas giant, JUICE made a significant flyby of the moon, using the opportunity to rigorously test its ten sophisticated science instruments.
These instruments are destined to probe the icy moons of Jupiter – Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto – in the search for signs of habitability. The lunar encounter served as the mission's first chance to validate the performance of JUICE's instruments on a solid celestial body in space.
A Moment of Silence for Science
A key instrument put to the test was the Radar for Icy Moon Exploration (RIME). RIME utilizes radio wave echoes to map the subsurface layers of rocky bodies. Its critical task at Jupiter will be to peer beneath the icy shells of the Jovian moons, revealing the hidden rocky interiors that could harbor life.
To ensure RIME could achieve the precision needed for these readings, ESA scientists orchestrated a unique test: they silenced all other instruments aboard JUICE for an eight-minute window as the spacecraft passed over Anders' Earthrise crater. This period of quiet allowed RIME to observe the crater without interference.
Success and the Promise of Discovery
The results? A resounding success. ESA has reported that the new elevation map generated by RIME for Anders' Earthrise crater remarkably aligns with data captured during previous lunar flybys. This validation is a critical step, proving that RIME is ready for its monumental task of charting the subsurface depths of Jupiter's moons.
The mission carries the profound hope of not only understanding these distant worlds but also of potentially aiding in the groundbreaking search for extraterrestrial life within our own solar system.
