Explanation:
What will NASA's Juno spacecraft find when it reaches Jupiter next Monday?
Very little, if
Juno does not survive
Jupiter Orbit Insertion,
a complex series of operations in an unknown environment just above Jupiter's cloud
tops.
If successful, as explained in the
featured video,
Juno will swoop around Jupiter, passing closer than any previous spacecraft.
The goal is to decelerate, enter into a highly
elliptical orbit,
and begin two years of science operations.
Juno's science mission objectives include mapping Jupiter's deep structure,
determining how much water is in Jupiter's atmosphere, and exploring Jupiter's powerful
magnetic field and how it creates
auroras around Jupiter's poles.
These lessons
hold promise to help humanity better understand the history of our Solar System and
the dynamics of our Earth.
Juno is powered predominantly by three
large
solar panels,
each measuring a side of small truck.
Launched in 2011, Juno's planned mission will take it
around the Jovian giant 37 times, after which, to avoid contaminating
Europa with microbes,
it will be directed to
dive into Jupiter's
thick atmosphere, where it will break apart and melt.