Overview
The Juno probe entered orbit around the planet Jupiter on July 4, 2016. Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System, and the Juno probe will study the magnetic fields of the planet, as well as clues to its origin and composition.
The Juno Probe
The Juno probe launched in August 2011. Its three giant solar panels extend to 9 meters, about the size of a basketball court. They are needed to power the spacecraft, since Jupiter is about five times further from the Sun than Earth and gets about 25 times less sunlight. All the scientific instruments are within a thick vault to protect them from Jupiter’s intense magnetic field.
The Planet Jupiter
Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. It is so large that within the Solar System, everything in the solar system except for the sun could fit inside it. It has an ocean of liquid hydrogen rather than water. Although the planet is so huge, its day is only about 10 hours long, as it rotates very quickly. Bands of clouds and spots are formed from ammonia. It has around 60 moons, including the four large moons first discovered by Galileo – Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System, even larger than Mercury and Pluto.
The Juno Mission
The Juno probe will orbit Jupiter in a highly elliptical orbit around its poles. The probe itself spins, while the scientific instruments are fixed, so that the most area can be covered by each instrument. Detailed measurements will be made of Jupiter’s strong magnetic field, the clouds, and what lies beneath them. Study of its gravity will provide clues to its structure, as will study of its chemical composition. The spacecraft will orbit Jupiter until February 2018, when it will burn up in its atmosphere.
Mission Goals
Some of the goals for the Juno mission include how the planet was formed, if it has a solid core, and how its magnetic field was generated. If Jupiter has a solid, rocky core, it would have formed later in the history of the solar system than if its core is not solid. The amount of water and other elements also contain clues to its formation. Scientists theorize that Jupiter was the first planet to form, so its composition is closer to the early solar system than the other planets. The Juno mission is the first mission to see beneath the clouds of the planet.
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