Europe's JUICE Jupiter mission launches April 13. Here's what it will teach us

An artist's impression of JUICE arriving in the Jovian system (celestial bodies and distances not to scale).

On Thursday, April 13, the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) will lift off from the European Space Agency's (ESA) spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, beginning its 8-year journey to the gas giant Jupiter.

When it arrives at the Jovian system in July 2031, the ESA spacecraft will not just investigate the gas giant itself, but will also make observations of its three large ocean-bearing moons.