The first international scientific meeting of the Moons And Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer (MAJIS) team after the launch of the JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission on 14 April 2023 will be held from tomorrow Tuesday 26 November until Thursday 28 November. 

More than 50 scientists and engineers from European research centres and universities will meet at the ASI's Cassini Hall in Rome to assess the performance of the MAJIS instrument and analyse the data obtained during the flybys of the Earth and Moon, carried out on 19 and 20 August 2024. These preliminary observations represent a fundamental step in monitoring the proper functioning of the instrument, allowing crucial information to be gathered on the behaviour and response of MAJIS under real flight conditions. Indeed, the data obtained during these flybys will make it possible to identify possible problems and to better understand the dynamics of information acquisition and transmission.

The analysis of the results will allow the necessary adjustments and calibrations to be made, with the aim of improving the instrument's performance ahead of the mission's arrival at its destination. These improvements will be crucial to ensure that MAJIS will be able to operate with maximum efficiency when the mission arrives in the Jovian system, where it will have to cope with complex and unprecedented environmental conditions. The meeting is therefore a key stage in fine-tuning the instrument's functionality and preparing for the next phases of the mission with maximum precision and reliability.

The Moons and Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer (Majis) on board Juice, has been realised thanks to two important contributions from France and Italy through the support of their respective space agencies, the Centre National d'études Spatiales (Cnes) and Asi. The main scientific contribution and responsibility are entrusted to the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale (Ias) d'Orsay and INAF. The Italian industrial prime is Leonardo S.p.A.

Find more about the instrument.