NASA launched the Juno spacecraft from Cape Canaveral on August 5, 2011. This marked the beginning of its five year, 2.8 billion kilometer journey to the planet Jupiter. After release from the Atlas V rocket high above Earth ‘s atmosphere, three large solar panel arrays were unfurled to power the spacecraft. These are the largest solar arrays ever used for a planetary probe, which typically are powered by radioactive thermoelectric generators.
Juno will begin orbital insertion around Jupiter on July 4, 2016, by firing its engines to slow the spacecraft. After two 53-day orbits, the engines will be fired again to move the spacecraft to 14-day polar orbits where its primary scientific mission will begin. Onboard equipment will study Jupiter ‘s composition, gravity field, magnetic field, and polar magnetosphere with the goal of learning more about the formation of the largest planet in our Solar System. The mission is scheduled to end in February 2018 when Juno will be de-orbited to burn up in Jupiter ‘s outer atmosphere.
The spacecraft is named after the Roman goddess Juno, the wife of the sky and thunder god Jupiter. When he used a veil of clouds to mask his mischief, Juno was still able to peer through and see Jupiter’s true nature.
Source: https://youtu.be/NNHfoNIiZ8Y (NYTimes)
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