The Juno Mission

 

The Juno Mission Report 1
4/26/12

 

Juno Launch From Cape Canaveral

Spacecraft: Juno

Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Atlas V-551

Launch Site: Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

Launch Date: Aug. 5, 2011

Launch Time: 12:25 p.m. EDT

Elapsed Time: 263 days

Juno Spacecraft Art

A Five-Year Journey:

Juno’s trip to Jupiter will take about five years. Though the journey may seem long, this flight plan allows the mission to use Earth’s gravity to speed the craft on its way. The spacecraft first loops around the inner solar system and then swings past Earth two years after launch to get a boost that will propel it onward to its destination. In July 2016, Juno will fire its main engine and slip into orbit around the giant planet to begin its scientific mission.

A Solar-Powered, Spinning Spacecraft:

Actual size of Solar Array (3)

Jupiter’s orbit is five times farther from the sun than Earth’s location, so the giant planet receives about 25 times less sunlight than Earth. Juno will be the first solar-powered spacecraft designed to operate at such a great distance from the sun, and its solar panels must be quite large to generate sufficient power there. To meet this challenge, three solar panels extend outward from Juno’s hexagonal body, giving the spacecraft an overall span of 20 meters (66 feet).

Objectives:

Juno will improve our understanding of the solar system’s beginnings by revealing the origin and evolution of Jupiter.

Specifically, Juno will do the following activities:

1. Determine how much water is in Jupiter’s atmosphere, which helps determine which planet formation theory is correct (or if new theories are needed)
2. Look deep into Jupiter’s atmosphere to measure composition, temperature, cloud motions and other properties
3. Map Jupiter’s magnetic and gravity fields, revealing the planet’s deep structure
4. Explore and study Jupiter’s magnetosphere near the planet’s poles, especially the auroras – Jupiter’s northern and southern lights – providing new insights about how the planet’s enormous magnetic force field affects its atmosphere.

The Giant Planet Story is the Story of the Solar System :

The Rings of Jupiter

Juno’s principal goal is to understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter. Underneath its dense cloud cover, Jupiter safeguards secrets to the fundamental processes and conditions that governed our solar system during its formation. As a primary example of a giant planet, Jupiter can also provide critical knowledge for understanding the planetary systems being discovered around other stars.  With its suite of science instruments, Juno will investigate the existence of a solid planetary core, map Jupiter's intense magnetic field, measure the amount of water and ammonia in the deep atmosphere, and observe the planet's auroras.  Juno will let us take a giant step forward in our understanding of how giant planets form and the role these titans played in putting together the rest of the solar system.

Jupiter’s Origins and Interior:

Theories about solar system formation all begin with the collapse of a giant cloud of gas and dust, or nebula, most of which formed the infant sun. Like the sun, Jupiter is mostly hydrogen and helium, so it must have formed early, capturing most of the material left after our star came to be. How this happened, however, is unclear. Did a massive planetary core form first and gravitationally capture all that gas, or did an unstable region collapse inside the nebula, triggering the planet’s formation? Differences between these scenarios are profound.

Atmosphere:

How deep Jupiter's colorful zones, belts, and other features penetrate is one of the most outstanding fundamental questions about the giant planet. Juno will determine the global structure and motions of the planet’s atmosphere below the cloud tops for the first time, mapping variations in the atmosphere’s composition, temperature, clouds and patterns of movement down to unprecedented depths.

Magnetosphere:

Deep in Jupiter's atmosphere, under great pressure, hydrogen gas is squeezed into a fluid known as metallic hydrogen. At these great depths, the hydrogen acts like an electrically conducting metal which is believed to be the source of the planet's intense magnetic field. This powerful magnetic environment creates the brightest auroras in our solar system, as charged particles precipitate down into the planet’s atmosphere. Juno will directly sample the charged particles and magnetic fields near Jupiter’s poles for the first time, while simultaneously observing the auroras in ultraviolet light produced by the extraordinary amounts of energy crashing into the polar regions.

Spacecraft & Instruments:

The spacecraft will orbit Jupiter 32 times, skimming to within 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers) above the planet's cloud tops, for approximately one year. Juno uses a spinning solar-powered spacecraft in a highly elliptical polar orbit that avoids most of Jupiter's high radiation regions. The designs of the individual instruments are straightforward and the mission does not require the development of any new technologies
Juno's scientific payload includes:

1. A gravity/radio science system (Gravity Science) (Done with high gain antenna which is on top of spacecraft).

2. A six-wavelength microwave radiometer for atmospheric sounding and composition (MWR):

A six-wavelength microwave radiometer

3. The vector magnetometer (MAG):

The vector magnometer at the end of the solar array

4. Plasma and energetic particle detectors (JADE and JEDI):

JADE

JEDI

5. A radio/plasma wave experiment (Waves) .

6. An ultraviolet imager/spectrometer (UVS)

7. An infrared imager/spectrometer (JIRAM) :

8.The spacecraft will also carry a color camera, called the JunoCam, to provide the public with the first detailed glimpse of Jupiter's poles.

This is my first report on this particular mission.  It will change over time into a different form possibly updates when they occur just like the other missions I write about.  When the next one comes out I cannot say, but when it does I will be one of the first to post new information on this mission when it occurs.