On the Fourth of July, NASA’s Juno spacecraft was the source of a light show that put to shame anything happening on the planet of its origin. ADVERTISING On the Fourth of July, NASA’s Juno spacecraft was the source of
On the Fourth of July, NASA’s Juno spacecraft was the source of a light show that put to shame anything happening on the planet of its origin.
After Juno’s five-year, 1.8 billion-mile trek, NASA scientists initiated a 35-minute engine burn to slow the solar-powered spacecraft from its 40 miles- per-second trajectory to one that would allow it to be captured by Jupiter’s gravity.
Some engineers have described it as the trickiest maneuver NASA has ever attempted with any mission. Jupiter has the most formidable magnetic fields and radiation belts human technology has ever encountered, so there was a high probability of failure for the $1.1 billion mission. NASA prepared as best it could for the maneuver by encasing Juno’s most important instruments behind titanium-reinforced walls designed to hold up for the length of the mission.
At Mission Control, nervousness gave way to celebration once Juno confirmed it had survived the high-speed rendezvous with the oldest and largest planet in our solar system. Juno slowed its speed from 165,000 mph to a manageable 130,000 mph. Eventually it will maintain an elliptical orbit 3,000 miles above clouds that could dwarf Earth’s continents in size. Jupiter is 300 times more massive than Earth.
Once all of Juno’s instruments are back online, its main job will be to map the world beneath those mysterious clouds. Scientists want to find out if the gas giant has a solid core and whether its atmosphere contains water. NASA also wants to know why Jupiter’s northern and southern lights are so active above the poles.
Because of Jupiter’s status in the birth order of our solar system, we are finally in a position to learn things about conditions that led to the formation of Earth and its neighboring planets. Beginning in August, Juno will provide scientists with the closest encounters we’ve ever had with Jupiter thanks to multiple flybys.
But all good things must come to an end. On Feb. 20, 2018, Juno will end its mission by diving directly into Jupiter. After 37 orbits, it will have fulfilled its primary mission and surveyed Earth’s oldest sibling as best it could without actually landing. Jupiter’s radiation will have taken its toll and fried much of the craft’s sensors.
Still, it is expected to perform heroically until the end, willingly sacrificing itself to transmit secrets about a world that continues to defy expectations hundreds of years after it was discovered.
The Juno mission may be one of NASA’s finest hours yet.
