Planning the JUICE mission took astronomical proportions: The ESA worked on this project for more than a decade, even before its story in space started. After liftoff, it will take another eight years for JUICE to reach its destination and begin its explorations.
A French aerodynamic engineer from the JUICE team who is in Kourou for the launch described the planned journey at an earlier public event as similar to “a ball in a pinball machine.” JUICE will bounce around space, using the gravitational lifts from several planets, including Earth, to reach its destinations. During the engineer’s presentation, the complexity of JUICE’s proposed path had dazzled me: an intricate dance between a human-made satellite and celestial bodies unimaginable distances removed from Earth.
Everything around the launch has been carefully choreographed, too, but for a different purpose: to get the public excited. Playing on the “juice” name, the ESA had organized a competition for the most creative space-themed drink, resulting in a recipe “inspired by Europa’s geology.” Mock-ups of the launchers decorate the welcome hall of French Guiana’s airport, and banners announce the mission around the city. The rocket itself has been adorned with a child’s artwork, the winner of a competition among young artists from around the world called Juice Up Your Rocket! And actual royalty, the Belgian king, had come to Kourou to witness the launch.
Suddenly, the sky lights up with the bright ball of the Ariane 5 rocket lifting JUICE. The soundwaves of the rocket produce a tremendous rumble that shakes the ground around us. Everybody claps and yells, the excitement palpable in the air.
Liftoff.
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But as soon as the rocket disappears behind the clouds, the crowd dissipates. Despite all the buzz over the mission, for many people in Kourou, it remains a regular workday. And plenty of local people did not make it out of work or their homes for the launch in the first place. The crowd at the beach had been largely White Europeans, mirroring the workforce at the launch site; many of the engineering and policy positions involved in the mission are held by people from continental France.
These demographic imbalances stand out in French Guiana, a country known for its ethnic diversity: Nestled between Suriname and Brazil, it is a blend of Amazonian, South American, and Caribbean cultures. The territory is a mosaic of Amerindians, Creoles, Maroons, Haitians, Brazilians, H’mong, Chinese, and “Métro” communities from France.
After the launch, I head to the market. I had heard a special stand in honor of JUICE had been organized by a small group of European astronomers who came for the occasion. But as I look around the regular fruit and vegetable stands, nothing points to the fact that one of Europe’s most important space missions had just lifted off a few kilometers away.
The market buzzes with life. Here the ethnic diversity of the country is visible, but the astronomy booth proves elusive.
