Juno’s Next Chapter: Unlocking the Mysteries of Jupiter

NASA’s Juno spacecraft may be in orbit around Jupiter, but it’s going to be a while before the vehicle photographs its first up-close images of the gas giant. The momentous event occurred in fitting patriotic fashion, happening just before midnight on the Fourth of July.

After a five-year space flight and 1.74 billion miles, NASA erupted in cheers as the message “Welcome to NASA” flashed up on screens in mission control in California. Now, it has set another milestone with its successful arrival at Jupiter.

As a special surprise, the scientists showed a clip that Juno took on its approach to Jupiter showing Jupiter’s moons orbiting the planet.

“Juno is really searching for some hints about our beginnings, how everything started”, Juno’s principal investigator “But these secrets are pretty well guarded by Jupiter.”

In its new orbit, Juno will conduct a number of dives close to the atmosphere of the planet as part of its primary mission. It captured the first images of Jupiter’s moons in motion around the planet.

The daring maneuver, which required the spacecraft to fire its rocket engine to slow it down enough to be able to slip into Jupiter’s orbit, was done completely by the spacecraft due to a notable communication lag between Jupiter and Earth.

Juno will employ those instruments from as close as 3,100 miles above the planet’s cloud tops-far closer than the orbits of some satellites around Earth.

“The mission also will let us take a giant step forward in our understanding of how giant planets form and the role these titans played in putting together the rest of the solar system”, NASA said in a statement. After that, the probe also had to angle itself to allow its solar panels to recharge from the Sun’s rays as it hangs out around the planet and collects its scientific data. NASA scientists equipped Juno with titanium shields to withstand pummeling rocks, powerful radiation, and freezing temperatures. By the time ground controllers receive word, the engine burn was completed, placing Juno in orbit. Then every two weeks, the spacecraft will skim Jupiter’s clouds to peek into its stormy atmosphere. This fiery end expected in 2018 prevents any chance of accidentally crashing into Jupiter’s moons, particularly Europa, considered a prime target in the hunt for microbial life in the solar system.

It’s a suicide mission, fit only for the bravest of spacecrafts, and so far it looks like Juno is up for the challenge.