NASA Probe Is About to Give the Best Ever Views of Jupiter
Once it goes into orbit on July 4, the Juno spacecraft will unlock some of Jupiter’s mysteries and send back amazing close-up images.
While most of America will be camped out in the gloaming awaiting the annual Independence Day fireworks, NASA scientists and engineers will be hoping for a less explosive celebration: the long-awaited arrival of the Juno spacecraft into orbit around Jupiter.
With three elongated solar arrays stretching away from its rotating body, Juno resembles a windmill peacefully spinning through space. But when it arrives at Jupiter at 11:18 ET on July 4, it will momentarily become one of the fastest human-made objects as it dives close to the massive planet and careens through its punishing radiation belts.
“Jupiter’s charged particle radiation belts are the most energetic and intense in the solar system,” says Juno scientist Barry Mauk of the Johns
