Jupiter, our solar system’s largest planet by far, has only had one NASA spacecraft orbit it before: the Galileo probe, which orbited from 1995 to 2003. The Juno probe, which launched back in August of 2011, is set to become the second craft to orbit Jupiter this 4th of July.
According to NASA, Juno will “improve our understanding of the solar system’s beginnings by revealing the origin and evolution of Jupiter.” Some of its specific tasks will be measuring the water amounts, composition, temperature and cloud motions in Jupiter’s atmosphere, as well as mapping the planet’s gravity fields and deeper structure.
The name of the probe, Juno, refers to the connection in Roman and Greek mythology between Jupiter and Juno. As NASA explains,
“In Greek and Roman mythology, Jupiter drew a veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief. It was Jupiter’s wife, the goddess Juno, who was able to peer through the clouds and reveal Jupiter’s true nature. The Juno spacecraft will also look beneath the clouds to see what the planet is up to, not seeking signs of misbehavior, but helping us to understand the planet’s structure and history.”
For more on the Juno probe’s mission, check out NASA’s overview page detailing the project.
Recently, some sound was recorded from the probe as it passed into Jupiter’s magnetosphere, the point where the planet’s magnetic field becomes more powerful than the sun’s. This short YouTube video contains the moment where it crossed over, giving some indication of the forces produced by the probe’s speed and the magnetic field.
NASA believes that since Jupiter is our “primary example of a giant planet,” it can give us “critical knowledge for understanding the planetary systems being discovered around other stars.” We’ll hopefully find out more when the Juno probe completes its nearly 5-year long journey in a few short days.
