Juno Spacecraft Update: NASA's Ambitious Mission Manages To Orbit Largest Planet In Solar System [VIDEO]
It took five years and traveled more billions of miles to reach its destination, but finally, Juno, NASA's most ambitious Jupiter mission to date, successfully achieved orbit around the largest planet in the Solar System. The journey to the gas giant was no small feat, as the spacecraft had to perform a very tricky maneuver completely on autopilot before finally making it into orbit on Monday night.
The daring maneuver, which required the spacecraft to fire its rocket engine to slow it down enough to be able to slip into Jupiter's orbit, was done completely by the spacecraft due to a notable communication lag between Jupiter and Earth.
Juno project manager Rick Nybakken stated in a news conference that they have prepared a number of contingencies in case Juno's automated maneuver proved to be a failure. Holding a sheaf of papers, he stated that he and his team were prepared for the worst.
"We prepared a contingency communications procedure, just in case the engine didn't fire and the mission was a failure. We don't need it," he said, tearing the papers in half.
NASA Director of Planetary Science Jim Green expressed his optimism about the mission, stating that the Juno mission would be able to gather far more data than other spacecraft before it.
"It's a milestone for planetary science," he said.
Despite Juno being able to slip into orbit, however, it would not start its actual mission until late August, when it is set to close in on Jupiter. During this time, it is expected that Juno would be flying within 5,000 km of the gas giant's clouds, far closer than any missions before it.
Juno would be facing a number of challenges as it gathers data on the planet, as well, especially since Jupiter's radiation belts send out electrons, protons and ions around the massive planet at almost the speed of light. If Juno's electronics get critically hit by the particles, the mission would be over.
Juno is an armored spacecraft, however, with its computer and other sensitive electronics being locked in a titanium vault. Hopefully, the vault holds on long enough for Juno to finish its mission, which is set to be concluded in 2018.
