The building of the rocket that could find aliens was finished yesterday in a secret James Bond-style lair in South America.
In a painstaking operation, boffins installed the upper section to the Ariane 5 device that will blast the Juice probe to Jupiter to hunt ET.
A ring of steel has been thrown around the vast “Europe’s Spaceport” in French Guiana as the mission enters its final phase.
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The 700 sq km complex is being patrolled by soldiers from the French Foreign Legion, military police and security guards.
The French Air and Space Force is monitoring the skies to keep out drones and helicopters, while maritime police are patrolling the nearby Atlantic. After obtaining security clearance, the Daily Star was invited inside the base where the rocket is being housed while undergoing its final checks.
One engineer told me: “It would be easier to get into Fort Knox.”
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Experts hope the data the solar-powered craft sends back to Earth after next month’s launch will finally prove alien life exists.
Jean-Marc Durand, deputy head of Arianespace in French Guiana, said: “This mission is fabulous – the future of mankind.
“If we eventually find alien life on Jupiter, then we can say, ‘We’ve done that’. At the time it will reach the orbit of Jupiter, it will be a very, very special moment.”
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