Juno spacecraft eventually reached Jupiter’s orbit on July 4. By locking on the orbit of Jupiter on America’s Independence Day, the probe started its 20-month long mission. It transmitted back the first image of Jupiter to Earth.
Image Sent by Juno Spacecraft
The captured image some extraordinary stuff. The Great Red Spot is one of them. Of course Europa, Io and Ganymede – the three big moons of Jupiter are also in the shot. Some cloud belts were also captured. The image was captured by Juno’s JunoCam – a visible light camera. The image was captured on July 10, 2016, Sunday.
Few Commentaries on Juno Spacecraft
According to NASA officials, at the time of clicking the image, Juno was at a distance of 2.7 million miles from the gas giant. Scott Bolton from Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio is the principal investigator of Juno.
On July 12, he stated in a statement that the images from JunoCam show that Juno managed to safely go through extreme radiation environment of Jupiter during its first pass. Since there was absolutely no degeneration, Juno is all set to take on Jupiter. Scott said that astronomers are growing impatient to see the poles of Jupiter.
Candice Hansen-Koharcheck, from Tucson’s Planetary Science Institute stated that it is good that Juno managed to survive insertion into Jupiter’s orbit. Candice is responsible for JunoCam’s operation.
About the Orbit Juno Spacecraft
Juno spacecraft travelled through deep space for nearly 5 years to reach Jupiter’s orbit. When it arrived, all instruments were turned off so that they could survive the orbital-insertion burn that lasted for 35 minutes. Some instruments were turned on on July 6, 2016. According to NASA officials, JunoCam went online on July 10.
Juno is on an elliptical orbit of 53 days. As of now, the probe is moving away from the gas giant. Still, the JunoCam will stay operational and will continue to click images of Jupiter. 4 images will be captured every hour even though Jupiter’s size will continue to shrink as the probe continues to move away from the planet.
Very soon, Jupiter will go behind the Sun and will become completely invisible to us. Amateur astronomers who were responsible for keeping a tab on the events taking place in Jupiter’s clouds will no longer be able to see anything once Jupiter hides behind the Sun.
According to Candice Hansen-Koharcheck, this is when JunoCam will keep us updated of any big changes happening in the appearance of Jupiter.
First Hi-Res Images from Juno Spacecraft
At the end of this month, Juno will reach the farthest distance from Jupiter. It will then start coming closer. The closest it will reach is 2,600 miles from cloudtops of Jupiter on August 27. That is when all instruments on Juno will wake up. That’s when Juno will click the first hi-res images of the gas giant, including the images of the planet’s poles. Those images will allow scientists to see whether there are swirling turbulent vortices at Jupiter’s poles or not just like that of Saturn.
What Will Juno Spacecraft Do in Coming Days?
The whole Juno mission costs USD 1.1 billion. The spacecraft was launched on August 5, 2011. The aim of the mission is to:
- Study magnetic field of Jupiter.
- Study gravitational field of Jupiter.
- Study the planet’s composition.
- Study the planet’s internal structure.
In the 20-month period, the while Juno studies the gas giant using 9 different types of instruments, scientists will be able to understand, in much more details, how Jupiter and the whole of Solar System was formed and evolved.
During its mission, Juno spacecraft will be orbiting Jupiter for 37 times. The spacecraft will complete most of its orbits in just 14 days instead of 53 days. In order to move into the smaller orbit, the spacecraft will perform an engine burn on October 19. This engine burn will last for 22 minutes, pushing the probe into the smaller orbit. The closest Juno will get to Jupiter will be 2,600 miles or 4,100 kilometers.
Interesting, the JunoCam onboard is not really one of the 9 important scientific instruments of Juno. It is just there to ensure that Juno attracts some public engagement. In order to see all images that Juno will be sending over during its mission, head over to the official website of the mission.
Juno will complete its mission in February 2018. That’s when Juno spacecraft will intentionally dive into the thick atmosphere and kill itself.