The $1.1 billion unmanned NASA spacecraft called Juno is barrelling towards Jupiter for a two-year mission to orbit and study the biggest planet in the solar system.
The basketball-sized, solar-powered spacecraft is set to plunge into Jupiter’s orbit on July 4 or 5 to begin its 20 month-mission of orbiting and observing the planet.
Juno principal investigator Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute said that Jupiter is ‘a planet on steroids,’ referring to the planet’s extreme environment. The planet’s atmosphere is packed with radiation that is said to be 1,000 times the lethal level for humans and is known for being enshrouded in the strongest magnetic field in the solar system.
The fifth farthest planet from the Sun is best known for its Great Red Spot, which is actually a massive storm that has been going on for hundreds of years.
Bolton admitted his nervousness concerning the spacecraft’s entry into the planet’s orbit, five years after its launch in Florida.
Juno project scientist Steve Levin of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said that the water figures in Jupiter are the most important figures the spacecraft will collect. It will also study the planet’s solar wind influences, gravitational field, magnetic field, and interior.
Juno will succeed Galileo, the first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter that was launched back in 1989, and will have an orbit closer than that of its predecessor. The earlier spacecraft ended its 14-year mission back in 2003, plunging to its death towards Jupiter’s strong gravitational pull.
