Now that the Juno spacecraft is settled in orbit around Jupiter, the real work is about to begin.
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Preplanned events leading up to the orbital insertion engine burn included changing the spacecraft’s attitude to point the main engine in the desired direction and then increasing the spacecraft’s rotation rate from 2 to 5 revolutions per minute (RPM) to help stabilize it.
The robot executed the sequence to burn off the engine at 9:18 p.m. Monday, allowing Juno to be captured by Jupiter’s massive gravity and placed into a large, elliptical orbit high above the planet’s north pole.
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. Joining him are Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator, second from left; Rick Nybakken, Juno project manager, second from right; and Heidi Becker, Juno radiation monitoring investigation lead.
But Juno eventually needs to swoop in closer to do its job.
Now that Juno is safely orbiting the planet and harvesting energy from the Sun to accomplish its mission of understanding the composition of the giant gas planet, scientists are anticipating data that will be collected from the spacecraft’s up close and personal encounter with the planet.
Among the mysteries that scientists hope to solve over: Does Jupiter, dubbed “the most dominant object in the solar system”, have a solid core?
These moons are known as the “Gallilean satellites”, and their historical significance makes this video even more special.
NASA stitched the images together and created a time-lapse video showing the moons in action.
Jupiter’s four largest moons. Scientists are expecting the best photos and information yet from Juno.
“What I’m really looking forward to is getting up close and personal with Jupiter”, said Steve Levin, Juno Project Scientist, who expressed eagerness to turning on the probe’s instruments, after they were turned off in preparation for the tricky orbit maneuver. The danger isn’t over, though, as Jupiter’s powerful radiation belts and magnetic fields bring another set of threats to the spacecraft’s delicate electronics, including nine observation instruments.
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Juno will also study how deep the trademark Great Red Spot goes and why the centuries-old storm has shrunk in recent years. Why are Jupiter’s southern and northern lights the brightest in the solar system? During Juno’s mission, which will encompass 33 elliptical orbits during the next year, the spacecraft will be exposed to the equivalent of 100 million dental X-rays.
