The world of astronomy grew impatient. After having left the earth it was five years ago, on 5 August 2011, the Juno probe has traveled 2.7 kilometers milliars. Objective: to put in orbit around Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, unlocking its mysteries. The event is rare because Juno is the second probe to explore the gas giant after Galileo remained in orbit in 1995.
What happened Juno around Jupiter
the 3.6 tons of ship powered by solar energy ignited its main engine for 35 minutes to slow its course. He was able to get sucked into the gravity of Jupiter and fit into a polar orbit of 53.5 days. “Welcome to Jupiter,” launched a commentator of the mission at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA in Pasadena, California. A signal from the ship received Tuesday at 3 pm GMT 53 (20 h 53 California time Monday) said the end of the maneuver, causing a thunderous applause in the control room.
“We are around Jupiter “, welcomed Scott Bolton, chief scientist of the mission at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio (Texas), without concealing a certain nervousness. Because of some 869 million kilometers that separate it from Earth, radio signals confirming the success of the orbit insertion have 48 minutes to reach the control center. Scott Bolton said earlier Monday at a press conference: “We definitely know if it’s a success when Juno will be returned to point its three large solar antennas towards the Sun,” which it depends for its energy, or to 4: 30 pm GMT. Juno will then focus on his first mission to study Jupiter for twenty months.
What are the objectives of the mission?
After two revolutions of 53.5 days Juno place from October next in an orbit of 14 days will graze him successively the two poles of the planet hidden under a thick cloud layer. The sensor must make 37 flybys, mostly between 10 000 and 4667 kilometers above the clouds of the giant planet, for a total of 20 months. Juno overflights are much closer than the previous record by 43 000 km established by the American probe Pioneer 11 in 1974. During approaches Jupiter, the instruments of the probe will study its gigantic aurora borealis, atmosphere, magnetosphere and its great red spot. One of the main objectives of the mission will be to better understand what is made inside hitherto unobserved, the giant planet.
Juno, a mission which cost 1.1 billion launched on 5 August 2011, and will map the gravitational and magnetic fields of Jupiter to determine the internal structure. The new instruments of the orbiter, including French and Italian, will also measure the radiometric emission from the deep atmosphere of the planet, which will reveal its composition, its thermal structure and ionized environment.
“Today we do not know whether or not Jupiter has a central core,” noted last week Tristan Guillot, director of research at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) and French team member scientific mission. Not only Juno help uncover Jupiter’s secrets, but should also provide new clues about the conditions at the beginning of the solar system.
What are the risks for Juno?
the mission officials had said Monday the risks to the probe by approaching too near. They cited the hydrogen layer – 90% of the atmosphere – that undergoes such pressure that it acts as a powerful electrical conductor. This, combined with the rapid rotation of Jupiter, generates a powerful magnetic field that surrounds the planet and can threaten Juno. In addition to the radiation, the ship also had to cross a debris belt.
To protect against high radiation, Juno is equipped with a solid titanium armor that surrounds its electronic equipment and instruments, its onboard computer and electrical wiring. Weighing 172 kilos, this protection will reduce radiation exposure – the equivalent of a million radios to the dentist – 800 times compared to the unprotected part. Juno also has on board three Lego figurines aluminum. They represent Jupiter, king of the gods in Roman mythology, Juno (Juno), his wife and his sister, and Galileo, the Italian scientist who discovered Jupiter’s four large moons in 1609.
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