Space Missions to Follow in 2016: Juno

Mars, Jupiter, and Asteroids, oh my! There are many space missions to look forward to in 2016. Over the coming weeks I will be writing about the space missions that will be making news this year. First up, a mission to Jupiter! 

Artist depiction of Juno in a polar orbit around Jupiter. Notice the large solar panels, Juno's primary source of power. Image Credit

 Juno, Entering Jupiter Orbit! 

In July of this year, a spacecraft named Juno will enter orbit around Jupiter. While Jupiter is the most visited gas giant (many spacecrafts flyby to get a gravity boost) it has only been orbited by one spacecraft so far, Galileo. Launched in 1989, Galileo had major problems with its main antenna and its tape recorder used to store data, so although the mission completed 70% of its science goals, it was not all it could have been. It is very exciting that we will finally have another mission in Jupiter orbit this year! 

Galileo image of Jupiter's Great Red Spot. Image Credit

Juno was launched in 2011, and will enter orbit around Jupiter in July 2016. The mission is designed to study Jupiter's interior, which we know very little about. It will also study the gas giant's magnetic and gravitational fields. Scientists will use data from Juno to try to understand how, when, and where Jupiter formed. It could have formed where it is now, but there is some evidence to suggest that it formed closer to the Sun and moved outward. If we learn more about Jupiter's formation, we will know more about the formation of the Solar System as a whole.

Juno's images of Earth. The two side images are in color, the center image is taken through a near-infrared filter. The bright areas are areas with high amounts of vegetation. Image Credit

Juno's scientific goals do not require visible light images, so a nice camera like Cassini's or New Horizons' was not included in the original design. Enough people advocated for a camera that one got added later. Because Juno is a spin-stabilized spacecraft, and the camera is mounted on one side, taking images will be a challenge. The images of the Earth above were taken in long strips and then stacked together later by an image processor.  When the spacecraft flies over Jupiter's poles, Jupiter will fill the camera's field of view, so most images will be of the polar region, such as this simulated view:

Simulated view of Jupiter's pole, likely similar to what Juno will see. Image Credit

The images JunoCam takes will be immediately released to the public, and the science team will rely on amateurs for image processing. Luckily, many gorgeous space images are the result of processing by amateurs, so there should be many pretty images from this mission. 

The first image of Jupiter taken by JunoCam. Image Credit

Besides the pretty pictures, hopefully we will learn more about how Jupiter and the other gas giants formed, if it has a solid core, and what drives its high wind speeds. 

The spacecraft has been cruising for 6 years, but its scientific phase is only planned for 2 years. Why such a short time? Jupiter captures intense radiation from the Sun. Mission planners have designed Juno to orbit close to Jupiter, in between Jupiter's atmosphere and the worst of the radiation, but they know the scientific instruments will likely be damaged over time. Still, within two years, Juno will have studied the entire sphere of Jupiter. The camera is only designed to last for the first 8 of the 33 planned orbits.

You can follow the mission at its website, where you can also watch a bunch of entertaining and educational videos about the mission featuring Bill Nye. I'll be sure to keep you updated on Juno news at this blog!

Stay tuned for next week's post on a mission to Mars launching in March! And of course, you can always stop by the Dome Planetarium at the Peoria Riverfront Museum to learn the latest news from space and what's up in our night sky - or Laser Floyd!

Get tickets now!