Tag: Planetary Science
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Scientists on edge awaiting Juno’s perilous encounter with Jupiter
This artist’s concept shows Juno’s approach path toward Jupiter for the July 4 insertion maneuver. Jupiter’s intense radiation belts are also illustrated here. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Speeding toward Jupiter at nearly 40 miles per second, NASA’s Juno spacecraft must brave a field of computer-zapping radiation and Jupiter’s tenuous ring of ice and dust particles when it…
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NASA’s Juno mission is about to peel back the layers on Jupiter
A version of this story was originally published in Astronomy Now magazine. NASA’s Juno spacecraft, seen here in an artist’s illustration, will become the second mission to orbit the solar system’s king planet. Credit: Lockheed Martin Whether you’re a casual stargazer or armed with a toolkit of observing gadgets, chances are you have caught a…
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Video: When Juno launched to begin 5-year trek to Jupiter
Juno left the Earth atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on Aug. 5, 2011, beginning its journey to Jupiter atop the most powerful Atlas variant with five side-mounted boosters. Liftoff occurred at 12:25 p.m. EDT (1625 GMT) from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. After traveling more than 1.7 billion miles, Juno arrives…
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Scientists to land, and switch off, Rosetta comet probe in September
Artist’s concept of the Rosetta spacecraft at comet 67P. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM/ATG medialab The European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission will end Sept. 30 with a dicey descent to the core of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, a risky, but potentially rewarding finale punctuated by commands to automatically safe the probe’s rocket thrusters and turn off its radio transmitter. The…
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Juno switched to autopilot mode for Jupiter final approach
Artist’s concept of the Juno spacecraft at Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Four days out from arriving at the solar system’s biggest planet, NASA’s Juno spacecraft received a final uplink of commands Thursday governing the robotic probe’s high-velocity braking maneuver Monday to steer into orbit around Jupiter. Juno will run on autopilot for the rest of its…
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NASA must decide soon on Dawn mission’s next act
Artist’s concept of the Dawn spacecraft, with its ion propulsion system active, in orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA NASA managers face a July 12 deadline to decide whether to send the Dawn spacecraft on an unplanned visit to a third object in the asteroid belt or keep the probe at dwarf planet…
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With Juno on Jupiter’s doorstep, Hubble eyes glowing Jovian auroras
Peering a half-billion miles across the solar system, the Hubble Space Telescope has caught a glimpse of brilliant auroras flashing over Jupiter’s north pole as NASA’s Juno orbiter speeds toward the gas giant for a close-up look. Part of Juno’s multi-pronged scientific campaign is aimed to determining how Jupiter’s auroras form and evolve, along with investigations…
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Juno’s British-built engine readied for all-important firing at Jupiter
Artist’s concept of the Juno spacecraft’s Leros 1b main engine firing. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Ground controllers pressurized the Juno spacecraft’s propulsion system Tuesday to prep for a July 4 rocket firing by the probe’s UK-made rocket engine that will steer the spinning, solar-powered robot into orbit around Jupiter. Kicking off more than 20 months observing Jupiter’s…
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Oxygen finding strengthens case that Mars was once habitable
This scene shows NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at a location called “Windjana,” where the rover found rocks containing manganese-oxide minerals, which require abundant water and strongly oxidizing conditions to form. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS High concentrations of manganese oxides found in Martian rocks by NASA’s Curiosity rover indicate the red planet’s atmosphere once had much more oxygen…
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Timeline of Juno’s historic arrival at Jupiter
NASA’s Juno spacecraft must complete a carefully-planned sequence of events as it closes in on Jupiter for a make-or-break orbit insertion burn July 4. The timeline posted below shows the schedule of major events in the weeks ahead of Juno’s arrival at Jupiter, plus the minute-by-minute sequence of steps planned for July 4. Times below…