Space & Astronomy

Juno prepares for close-up look at Jupiter

By T.K. Randall
August 27, 2016 ·  3 comments

Juno has been orbiting Jupiter for almost two months. Image Credit: NASA / JPL The mission, which aims to learn as much as possible about the gas giant, launched back in 2011 as part of NASA's ongoing New Frontiers program.

The probe's instruments, which include a microwave radiometer, a magnetometer, an infrared auroral mapper and a high-resolution color camera, will help it unlock many of Jupiter's secrets including how the planet came to form and whether or not it has a solid core.

"This is the first time we will be close to Jupiter since we entered orbit on July 4," said mission principal investigator Dr Scott Bolton."Back then we turned all our instruments off to focus on the rocket burn to get Juno into orbit around Jupiter. Since then, we have checked Juno from stem to stern and back again."

"We still have more testing to do, but we are confident that everything is working great, so for this upcoming flyby Juno's eyes and ears, our science instruments, will all be open."

"This is our first opportunity to really take a close-up look at the king of our solar system and begin to figure out how he works."

Source: Sky News | Comments (3)

Tags: Jupiter, Juno