Bimbim's Team

The Europlanet Society's funding 2022 for outreach projects was awarded to Katia Pinheiro and her team for the creative project 'Bimbim's Team: A Journey to the Planets'. Bimbim's team consists of Bimbim and his various friends. The project was meant to introduce little kids to the interesting world of planets and the solar system. 

 

The project consists of 3 animated puppet movies dubbed in English, Portuguese and French. The first episode, in all three languages, about the Solar System is now available on the IAGA Youtube Channel. The subsequent two episodes are about Earth and Mars and would be out within days. Keep a look out for them on our channel. In the meantime, watch as Bimbim learns about the different planets of the Solar System!

Exploration of the Jovian system

In a month's time, the European Space Agency's (ESA) JUICE mission would be launched. JUICE is the
Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer which aims to study 3 Galilean moons in an attempt to understand their internal structure.

The first measurements around Jupiter's moons were received from the Galileo mission. Galileo was launched by NASA in October 1989 and provided data from 1996 to 2003. Based on the data from the spacecraft, scientists believe that Europa, Callisto and Ganymede might have a subsurface ocean. Ganymede even has its own magnetic field while Io has active volcanoes. The data from the upcoming JUICE mission will provide further evidences to better constrain the interior of these natural satellites.

The JUICE mission is scheduled to launch on 13th April from French Guiana. It will carry 10 scientific instruments focused on understanding the Jovian magnetosphere and its interaction with the satellites. The spacecraft will revolve around Jupiter and is expected to make a total of 35 flybys providing data near the moons. During the final phase of the mission, JUICE will also orbit around Ganymede, which will give a clearer picture about its internal magnetic field.

Image Credit: ESA (Jupiter with its 4 Galilean moons- Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto).

If you are interested to know more, ask us in the comments or on our social media platforms (top left of page). You can also visit ESA's website about the JUICE mission here.

IUGG Committee Nominations

The IUGG is looking for nominations for its Bureau and Finance Committee for 2023-2027. The elections will take place at the IUGG General Assembly 2023 in Berlin happening from 11th to 20th July. The Assembly will comprise of sessions from all 8 IUGG associations.

The Union and Association officers can nominate or send recommendations to the Committee by April 11th, 2023. These nominations should be supported by officers and the acceptance by candidates with their resume. More details about this can be found in the IUGG Newsletter for March (Volume 23 No. 3) or by contacting the IUGG Secretariat. The nominating committees details can be found here.

For more details about the upcoming General Assembly, click the 'IUGG 2023 All Updates' option on 'Our Blog Series' tab on the right. Follow our social media channels (top left of the page) for news about the Assembly and other happenings in the community.