NASA’s Juno spacecraft has sent home absolutely fascinating images of Jupiter, captured during its 66th flyby of the Solar System’s largest and oldest planet.
The Juno mission has been studying the Jovian system (Jupiter, its rings and moons) for several years to learn more about the formation and evolution of the giant planet in the hope that we will learn more about the Solar System. The solar-powered spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida in August 2011 and arrived at Jupiter in July 2016, according to SmithsonianMag.
“Jupiter is the Rosetta Stone for the Solar System. Juno is there as a missionary, to interpret what Jupiter has to say,” said Scott Bolton, the mission’s principal investigator and assistant vice president of the Science and Engineering Division at Southwest Research Institute your Texas.
Juno is not the first mission to orbit Jupiter
After Juno began studying Jupiter eight years ago, the spacecraft sent information and images captured by JunoCam, its 2-megapixel camera, back to Earth with each flyby. Scientists then process the data and create spectacular images. The most recent photos come from the spacecraft’s 66th flyby on October 23, when Juno also reached Amalthea, Jupiter’s potato-shaped natural satellite.
Juno is not the first mission to orbit Jupiter, but it is the first to approach the planet’s poles, where giant cyclones reside. Among other revelations, the spacecraft revealed more information about the planet’s magnetic field, its strange core and the Great Red Spot, the largest storm in the Solar System.
Originally, Juno’s mission was only supposed to last until October 2017, so as to avoid a possible risk of collision with three of the planet’s largest moons, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
NASA has extended the mission until September 2025
Each of these satellites has an icy surface, making them “ideal candidates in the search for life beyond Earth,” and the crash of a human spacecraft could accidentally contaminate the ecosystems there with terrestrial microbes.
However, NASA extended the mission to 2021, when the flight path had evolved and researchers were sure there was no longer any risk of contamination. Thus, scientists have decided that Juno will continue its mission until September 2025. Next, the spacecraft will circle the planet another 42 times, study its satellites and conduct the first exploration of Jupiter’s rings.
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Source: www.descopera.ro
