Ganymede (moon) and possibly a JAXA-led Jupiter Magnetospheric Orbiter. ESA's contribution faced funding competition from other ESA projects, but on 2 May 2012 the European part of the mission, renamed Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE), obtained a L1 launch slot in 2022 with an Ariane 5 in the ESA's Cosmic Vision science programme. The spacecraft will orbit Ganymede and conduct multiple flyby investigations of Callisto and Europa. The Russian Space Research Institute is currently evaluating the Ganymede Lander (GL) mission, with emphasis on astrobiology. The Ganymede Lander would be a partner mission for JUpiter ICy moon Explorer (JUICE). If selected, it would
Orbit of the Moon Moon and Earth rotate on their own axes. In representations of the Solar System, it is common to draw the trajectory of Earth from the point of view of the Sun, and the trajectory of the Moon from the point of view of Earth. This could give the impression that the Moon orbits Earth in such a way that sometimes it goes backwards when viewed from the Sun's perspective. Because the orbital velocity of the Moon around Earth (1 km/s) is small compared to the orbital velocity of Earth about the Sun (30 km/s), this never happens. There are no