--- title: "University of Bern on the Juice mission" description: "The University of Bern contributes the NIM mass spectrometer to ESA’s Juice mission to Jupiter and is involved in the SWI and GALA instruments." url: https://unibefoundation.ch/en/news/university-of-bern-on-board-jupiter-mission updated: 2026-09-16 --- # University of Bern on the Juice mission > The University of Bern contributes the NIM mass spectrometer to ESA’s Juice mission to Jupiter and is involved in the SWI and GALA instruments. News 27. March 2023 # The University of Bern is on board the mission to Jupiter **The European Space Agency ESA’s Juice space mission will set off on its journey to Jupiter on 13 April 2023, where, among other things, it will search for traces of life on three icy moons. The University of Bern is contributing the NIM mass spectrometer to the mission and is involved in two further instruments: the Submillimeter Wave Instrument SWI and the laser altimeter GALA.** *Read the original media release* [*here*](https://mediarelations.unibe.ch/medienmitteilungen/2023/medienmitteilungen_2023/die_universitaet_bern_ist_bei_jupiter_mission_mit_an_bord/index_ger.html)*.* (in German) On Thursday, 13 April 2023 at 14:15, the European Space Agency ESA’s Juice (Jupiter ICy moons Explorer) space probe is scheduled to set off on board an ARIANE 5 rocket from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on its journey to Jupiter. After a journey of around eight years, Juice will arrive at Jupiter, where it will study the largest planet in our solar system and three of its more than 80 moons. These are the icy moons Ganymede, Callisto and Europa – icy, dark worlds: the average temperature on their surface is below minus 140 degrees Celsius. The Juice mission aims to answer fundamental questions about the formation of Jupiter and its moons – and it is also about searching for signs of life. Juice carries ten scientific instruments. The University of Bern is contributing the NIM mass spectrometer (which is part of the Particle Environment Package PEP) to the mission and is involved in two further instruments: the Submillimeter Wave Instrument SWI and the laser altimeter GALA. ## **Bernese expertise in demand** [\#](#bernese-expertise-in-demand "Direct link to Bernese expertise in demand") Building instruments for space missions has a long tradition at the University of Bern. Bern, for example, has proven expertise in the field of mass spectrometry. For the Juice mission, the Neutral and Ion Mass Spectrometer (NIM) was developed and built in Bern under the direction of Prof. Peter Wurz, Director of the Physics Institute of the University of Bern. It is part of the ‘Particle Environment Package’ (PEP), which consists of six different spectrometers. The NIM mass spectrometer will investigate the chemical and isotopic composition and distribution of particles in the atmospheres of Jupiter’s icy moons as well as the physical parameters of these atmospheres. Wurz says: “Insights into how Jupiter and its moons formed and how they have evolved are an important contribution to understanding the formation of the solar system in general.” The Institute of Applied Physics (IAP) at the University of Bern, under the direction of Axel Murk, developed the optics and the calibration unit for the Submillimeter Wave Instrument (SWI). In autumn 2020, the optics for the SWI were integrated and tested at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research. Murk, who heads the Microwave Physics division at the IAP, explains: “The instrument will measure the thermal radiation of Jupiter’s stratosphere at submillimetre wavelengths in order to determine the temperature distribution, composition and winds in Jupiter’s atmosphere. In addition, the SWI will be used to study the atmospheres and surface properties of the moons.” The IAP has been developing microwave radiometers for remote sensing of the Earth’s atmosphere for many years. As Murk emphasises, the IAP’s many years of experience in optical design and calibration enabled it to make an important contribution to the SWI. Also on board Juice will be the GAnymede Laser Altimeter GALA, for which the so-called ‘Range Finder Module’ – a rangefinder – was developed at the Physics Institute under the direction of Nicolas Thomas. “The GALA project is led by the German Aerospace Center DLR. We are providing the rangefinder electronics, which were specially built by Thales Alenia Space Switzerland in Zurich,” explains Thomas, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Bern and Director of the National Centre of Competence in Research NCCR PlanetS. He is one of the world’s leading experts in the field of remote sensing instruments for space missions. For example, the CaSSIS camera, which has been delivering spectacular high-resolution images of the Martian surface since 2018, was built under his direction. “The fact that instruments with Bernese involvement are now flying to Jupiter makes us proud and is proof of the University of Bern’s great expertise! And we are looking forward to the moment when the first data from the instruments are received,” says Wurz. ## **The search for life** [\#](#the-search-for-life "Direct link to The search for life") Data from earlier space missions and model calculations suggest that there are subsurface oceans deep beneath the outer ice layer of Ganymede and Europa. According to current knowledge, these oceans have all the properties needed for life to emerge and exist in the longer term. “Given the efforts being put into the search for life, both through remote sensing of exoplanets and through the study of promising objects in our solar system, I would expect signs of life to be found within the next 20 years,” says Wurz. “The question of whether there is any life out there at all could become the question of what forms of life exist out there: simple life, evolved life or even intelligent life, and how abundant it is.” ### The University of Bern is flying to Jupiter [\#](#the-university-of-bern-is-flying-to-jupiter "Direct link to The University of Bern is flying to Jupiter") The Neutral and Ion Mass Spectrometer (NIM) was developed and built at the Physics Institute of the University of Bern under the direction of Peter Wurz. It is part of the ‘Particle Environment Package’ (PEP), which consists of six different spectrometers. The NIM mass spectrometer will investigate the chemical and isotopic composition and distribution of particles in the atmospheres of Jupiter’s icy moons as well as the physical parameters of these atmospheres. The Institute of Applied Physics, under the direction of Axel Murk, developed the optics and the calibration unit for the Submillimeter Wave Instrument (SWI). In autumn 2020, the optics for the SWI were integrated and tested at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research. The SWI will survey Jupiter’s stratosphere as well as the atmospheres and surfaces of Jupiter’s icy moons. Instead of visible light, the instrument will measure the thermal radiation of Jupiter’s stratosphere at submillimetre wavelengths in order to determine the temperature distribution, composition and winds in the atmosphere. In addition, the atmospheres and surface properties of the moons will be studied. Also on board Juice is the laser altimeter GALA, for which the so-called ‘Range Finder Module’ was developed at the Physics Institute under the direction of Nicolas Thomas. GALA will study the topography of Ganymede. Video about the Bernese instruments: More information on the Juice mission / University of Bern: ### Funding by SERI / Swiss Space Office [\#](#funding-by-seri-swiss-space-office "Direct link to Funding by SERI / Swiss Space Office") The Swiss Confederation is participating in the JUICE mission as part of the European Space Agency ESA’s PRODEX programme (PROgramme de Développement d'EXpériences scientifiques). Through this programme, national contributions to science missions can be developed and built by project teams from research and industry. Ultimately, this transfer of knowledge and technology between science and industry also gives Switzerland as a business location a structural competitive advantage – and it enables technologies, processes and products to flow into other markets, thereby creating added value for our economy. 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