NASA's Juno Spacecraft Successfully Completed Its Fourth Flyby Of Jupiter

NASA's Juno spacecraft hovered Jupiter at about 2,670 miles (4,300 km) above the planet's cloud tops. The spacecraft just completed its fourth flyby of Jupiter on Feb. 2, 2017.

The spacecraft is expected to gather data and return them to Earth. It has the JunoCam and other eight science instruments that were operating during the flyby.

Dr. Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator, said that it is never Groundhog Day when you are flying past Jupiter. He further said that with every close flyby, they are finding something new. The researchers are still analyzing the data collected from the previous flybys, according to Sci-News.

Some of the data collected showed that Jupiter's magnetic field and auroras are massive and stronger than previously thought. Jupiter's belts and zones that provide gas giant's cloud top its unique look extends deep into the interior of the planet.

According to Universe Today, Juno approached Jupiter at exactly 12:57 a.m. GMT (7:57 a.m. EST). It traveled at a velocity of about 208,000 km/h (129,300 mph) relative to the planet Jupiter. Juno with its instrument scanned the gas giant's atmosphere and collected information on its radiation and plasma.

The JunoCam also captured several images of Jupiter. These will be made available to the public once the data were returned to Earth.

Meanwhile, Candy Hansen, the Juno mission co-investigator from the Planetary Science Institute, said that the pictures JunoCam can take depict a narrow swath of territory the spacecraft flies over, so the points of interest imaged can provide a great amount of detail. She further said that they play a vital role in helping the Juno science team establish what is going on in the atmosphere of Jupiter at any moment. She added that they are looking forward to seeing what people from outside the science team think is important.