The Juno spacecraft was launched in 2011 to study Jupiter's composition, gravity and magnetic fields. It will map Jupiter's auroras and fields to understand its formation and inner workings. Juno aims to determine if Jupiter has a solid core like Earth and the nature of its powerful magnetic dynamo. The mission seeks to reveal how Jupiter formed and evolved to provide insights about the early solar system.
3. INTRODUCTION
Juno is a NASA New
Frontiers mission to the
planet Jupiter. Juno was
launched from Cape
Canaveral Air Force
Station on August 5,
2011 and will arrive in
July 2016.
4. MISSION
• The spacecraft is to be placed in a polar orbit
to study Jupiter's composition, gravity fields,
magnetic fields, and polar ,magnetosphere.
• Juno will also search for clues about how the
planet formed, including whether it has a
rocky core, the amount of water present
within the deep atmosphere, how its mass is
distributed, and its deep winds, which can
reach speeds of 618 kilometers per hour.
5. DATA
The spinning satellite will photograph
Jupiter's spectacular aurora and map its
intense magnetic and gravitational fields
for a year in a bid to understand the
planet's formation and the inner workings
that make it one of the most extraordinary
bodies in the solar system.
A major question Juno will seek to answer
is the nature of the dynamo that
generates Jupiter's powerful magnetic
field, which is 20,000 times stronger than
that of the Earth. On our home planet, the
magnetic field is produced by a spinning
core of molten iron.
Other instruments aboard Juno will
compile detailed maps of Jupiter's
gravitational field to reveal how heavier
elements are distributed throughout the
planet, and confirm whether or not it has
a sold rocky core.
6. CONCLUSION
Juno is a mission of discovery and exploration that will conduct an
in-depth study of Jupiter, the most massive planet in our solar system.
Peering through the clouds deep into Jupiter's atmosphere, the
mission will reveal fundamental processes of the formation and early
evolution of our solar system. Juno's goal is to understand the origin
and evolution of the gas giant planet, which will pave the way to a
better understanding of our solar system and other planetary
systems being discovered around other stars.
