Juice/SWI during the Lunar-Earth-Gravity-Assist (LEGA) – Part 4: Antenna pointing and beam characterisation

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Abstract
The Submillimetre Wave Instrument (SWI) onboard the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) spacecraft consists of a 29 cm off-axis paraboloid antenna and two double-sideband heterodyne receivers operating in the frequency ranges of 530–638 and 1066–1286 GHz. This instrument is designed to study Jupiter's atmosphere and the exospheres of the Galilean moons. We used the Lunar-Earth-Gravity-Assist (LEGA) data from August 2024 to characterise this antenna using several SWI observations pointing towards the Earth. The data analysis of the LEGA observations dedicated to the antenna beam allows us to characterise the antenna beam Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM), sidelobes, absolute pointing and receiver coalignement. Moreover, an estimate of the calibration efficiency factor has been obtained from an optical model simulation.
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Funding Information
  • Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-23-CMAS-0041)
  • Swedish National Space Agency (NA)
  • European Space Agency (Prodex program)
  • Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (200020-165744)

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