The JUICE ultraviolet spectrograph: a next-generation compact UVS for ESA’s JUICE mission

Abstract

Four compact planetary ultraviolet spectrographs have been built by Southwest Research Institute and successfully operated on different planetary missions: Rosetta-Alice, New Horizons-Alice, LRO-LAMP, and Juno-UVS. A fifth, JUICE-UVS, has been delivered to Airbus in preparation for ESA's JUICE mission to Ganymede and the Jovian system. This spectrograph features advancements that improve spatial resolution, maximum instantaneous count rates, and radiation background rejection when compared to previous spectrographs. A high-resolution port (HP) is added to improve the spatial resolution of the base UVS design by a factor of approximately 4, at a cost of 16 times worse signal-to-noise. The new design also allows solar occultations at Jupiter and its moons by reworking the SOCC that flew on New Horizons-Alice. JUICE-UVS will explore the Galilean satellites, investigate the dynamics and energetics of Io's atmosphere and torus, and characterize the dynamics and vertical structure of Jupiter's upper atmosphere.