Jupiter is an unimagninable distance from Earth, and so is NASA’s spacecraft that’s studying it!
The Juno spacecraft arrived at Jupiter a few months ago on a mission to study the gas giant’s origin and evolution. In doing this, it will give us a better understanding of our solar system’s beginnings.
Artist’s concept of Juno. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
During the mission, Juno performs a flyby of Jupiter at a low altitude so it can study what is underneath the clouds. The spacecraft will also study the planet’s structure, its atmosphere and magnetosphere.
Last week, the instruments on Juno unexpectedly deacitivated due to the spacecraft entering safe mode. The spacecraft continued to receive power as it was oriented toward the sun, but some components that were not critical also switched off.
This week, Juno successfully exited safe mode. Why did it enter safe mode in the first place? A software performance monitor caused Juno’s computer onboard the spacecraft to reboot. The reboot’s cause continues to be assessed.
More recently, Juno successfully fired its thrusters to get ready for its next flyby of Jupiter. The spacecraft is healthy, and its instruments will be turned on next month in preparation for the upcoming December flyby.
A founding member of the Coalition, Lockheed Martin built Juno. After the mission launched in 2011, Juno traveled for years before exploring Jupiter. The mission is part of NASA’s New Frontiers program.
Learn more about this mission at NASA.gov.