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Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

 

There is an ambitious mission planned by NASA, aimed to reach three satellites of Jupiter: Callisto, Ganymede and Europa. The probe would examine the existence of oceans under their ice surface. The probe would be supplied by ionic engines assisted by big nuclear reactor (NEP - Nuclear Electric Propulsion). A journey to Jupiter would take from six to eight years. The time of the entire mission is estimated to take twelve years.

 

Artistic vision of the JIMO probe. NASA.

 

It would be the biggest probe in the history of space conquest, 20 meters long and weighted 20 tons. There in an interesting fact, that a speed of sending data from probe to Earth would reach 10 megabytes per second, instead of 100 kilobytes per second achieved by Voyager or Cassini.