Juno Spacecraft’s Flyby To Jupiter Will Happen Today

Juno Spacecraft is finally getting a close-up look at the biggest planet in the Solar system, Jupiter this coming Saturday (August 27, 2016).

NASA's Juno probe will be exactly 2,600 miles (4,000 kilometers) away from the gas giant Jupiter at 8:51 a.m. EDT on August 27 (Saturday). This is the closest that the probe will be positioned in its entire mission making it capable of zooming the planet's clouds.

The spacecraft is ready along with its instruments to capture and entire all important details on Saturday's flyby, which is unlike its previous encounter last July 4 when it entered the orbit of the giant planet.

In NASA's official statement, Juno Principal Investigator Scott Bolton recalled what happened then, "we turned all our instruments off to focus on the rocket burn to get Juno into orbit around Jupiter."

"Since then, we have checked Juno from stem to stern and back again," Bolton further stated. "We still have more testing to do, but we are confident that everything is working great. So for this upcoming flyby Juno's eyes and ears, our science instruments, will all be open. This is our first opportunity to really take a close-up look at the king of our solar system and begin to figure out how he works."

The Juno mission was launched in August 2011 and received $1.1 billion worth of funds from NASA. Its primary mission is to map out the magnetic and gravitational fields of Jupiter in order to determine its composition and interior make up. Other goals involve identification of significant elements or chemicals present on the planet.

Nearly five years of the mission on July 4, the spacecraft entered Jupiter's orbit on a highly elliptical path reaching from pole to pole of Jupiter. The team estimates that Juno will complete 36 flybys before it finally ends mission on February 2018.

According to NASA as reported in Space, they will activate all eight of the spacecraft's instruments to collect data and capture clear images using the JunoCam.

In addition, NASA clarified in a statement that it may take some time for the images to be available. "A handful of JunoCam images, including the highest-resolution imagery of the Jovian atmosphere and the first glimpse of Jupiter's north and south poles, are expected to be released during the later part of next week."