King Filip tours JUICE launch pad, suffers disappointment (VIDEO)
King Filip and his son Prince Gabriel are staying in French Guiana for a further day. The launch of the European Space Agency’s JUICE probe has been delayed for at least 24 hours due to the threat of lightning. The launch is now planned for Friday.
Fortunately, King Filip has already had an opportunity to tour the European Space Centre in Kourou (VIDEO) and admire the Ariane 5 rocket that will launch the space probe on its journey to the ice moons of Jupiter, where it hopes to discover whether life is possible.
The timing of the launch of the probe is very precise. It was supposed to happen at 1 second after 2:15PM on Thursday. Great precision is required because the probe has to follow a route that saves on fuel and takes it past earth’s moon, Venus and twice past the earth. The voyage will take eight years.