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  • Jupiter Probe Carrying Sonic the Hedgehog Lifting Off April 14

    Let's hope there isn't any Collision Chaos!
    nuckles87  · 
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    After years of development plus a 24-hour delay due to bad weather, the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (aka JUICE) is just hours away from launching and starting its eight-year journey to Jupiter. JUICE will explore the Jovian system, particularly the icy moons of Ganymede, Callisto and Europa, before eventually settling into an orbit around Ganymede in 2034. If successful, JUICE will be the first spacecraft to orbit a moon other than our own.

    And Sonic will be along for the ride!

    As we reported back in 2019, Sonic adorns the spacecraft as part of the logo for one of its instruments, the Radio & Plasma Wave detector (RPWI):

    sonic-space.jpg

    SEGA was nice enough to grant the team permission to use Sonic in their logo after the RPWI team leader, Dr. Jan-Erik Wahlund, requested it. According to Dr. Wahlund, Sonic was chosen due to his many adventures in space, as well as Wahlund and his team’s deep affection for the character. That the spacecraft is called “Juice,” a commonly used word by SatAM Sonic and his assumed name during the show’s Blast to the Past two-parter is purely coincidental.

    The launch will occur at 8:15 AM EST and will be livestreamed from the ESA’s website here, or on their Youtube channel here.

    The Sonic-adorned space craft will be launching from Guiana Space Center using an Ariane 5 rocket. It’ll be going on a little tour of the solar system over the next few years, using Earth, the Moon and Venus for various gravity assist maneuvers, before eventually passing through the asteroid belt (where it may do a fly-by of an asteroid) and reaching the Jovian system in July 2031. In July 2032, it will do a flyby of Europa before settling into a high-inclination orbit around Jupiter in order to study its polar regions and magnetosphere.

    In December 2034, it will begin the aforementioned orbit around Ganymede, before crashing into the moon at some point the following year. That final manoeuvre may be changed if scientists conclude it may contaminate a liquid ocean.

    The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way. All proceeds will go to supporting our community and continued coverage of Sonic the Hedgehog. Thank you in advance for your kind support!
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    Badnik Mechanic

    Badnik Mechanic 34,513

    Posted

    THERE HE GOES!

    Just lifted off about 10 min ago. Sonic is actually on the small probe at the top of the rocket, not the rocket itself.

    At the moment the rocket has left the atmosphere and is currently losing some altitude to make it gain more speed before the nose cone separates. As I type this, the rocket is flying over the south Atlantic ocean, it's due to pass over southern Africa where it will separate the probe from the nose cone.

    EU Space agency is currently live streaming the whole thing and... it's pretty damn good coverage!
     

     

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