Juno Mission’s Countdown Begins For Arrival At Jupiter

NASA's Juno probe is reportedly only six days away from reaching its destination, i.e. Jupiter, on July 4.The probe will be the most daring action ever in spacecraft history to get near the biggest known planet in our solar system.

After a 5-year trek, I’m 1 week from #Jupiter. See the trailer for my #July4th orbit arrival https://t.co/nU3cvipV90 pic.twitter.com/lcs71gEfUJ

— NASA's Juno Mission (@NASAJuno) June 27, 2016

Getting so near Jupiter is an immense challenge because the giant planet is surrounded by an intense radiation belt, which can fry up most of the spacecraft electronics. Consequently, Juno will do a series of 37 loops between the giant planet and the radiation ring, instead of orbiting Jupiter to negate the effect of getting its instruments fried. Incidentally, the science instruments are placed inside a 180 kilogram titanium vault which will protect them from the radiation around the planet.

#Jupiter ahead! My view of the giant planet + its 4 largest moons, as captured by JunoCam. https://t.co/EivKexPKbE pic.twitter.com/GbeC0MLUcm — NASA's Juno Mission (@NASAJuno) June 24, 2016

On July 4, the engines of Juno will burn for around half an hour to slow down the spacecraft so that it can make a loopy orbit entry in the Jupiter system. As per Juno mission officials, the engines of the spacecraft have to "fire at just the right moment and in just the right direction for just the right amount of time". Once Juno successfully embarks on its course, it will get as close as 4,350 kilometers to Jupiter's cloud tops. And take 14 day long orbits through the planet's system.

Incidentally, Juno would have traveled faster than any man-made object ever has, at its more than 64.3 kilometers per hour speed, which means the spacecraft covers a mind blowing distance of 231745.536 kilometers per hour according to NASA.

The $1.1 billion Juno mission can come to an end if the maneuver doesn't go as decided and Juno flies past its destination planet. "It's a one shot deal. I mean, the whole thing is riding on this JOI, Jupiter orbit insertion, activity on July 4," said Scott Bolton, principle investigator of Juno. The expert also added that the nail biting moment has started.

The main aim of the Juno mission is to gather information about the interior of Jupiter to find clues about the formation of the planet. Subsequently, the information can provide more insight into our solar system's history as well as the formation and history of other such systems in the universe.