Juno (space probe)

Juno is a mission of NASA bound for Jupiter planned for August 2011 and whose cost is approximately 700 million dollars. The purpose of the Space probe is to study the composition of the Planet, the Champ of gravity, the Magnetic field as well as the polar Magnétosphère, for that the probe will have to place in polar Orbite. The purpose of Juno will be also to help the scientists to include/understand how the planet was formed. The question of the origin of planets of our solar system passes in particular by that of the rock nature of the Jupiter heart, of its quantity of water present in major atmosphere and its distribution of the mass. Juno will have to also study the winds on Jupiter (which can reach 600 km/h). It will be the first mission for Jupiter to use Solar panels rather than thermoelectric generating with radioisotope (RTG).

Summary of the Mission

Juno, mission belonging to the Program New Frontiers of NASA, will have a trajectory making use of terrestrial gravity, two years after launching. On arrival in 2016, five years roughly after launching, the probe will have to slow down sufficiently to be placed in the Jupiter orbit. It will then take him 11 days to establish a revolution around planet while passing by the poles. The mission will be finished in 2017, after the probe carried out 32 rotations around Jupiter. The data analysis should proceed during 2018.

Statute of the mission in 2007

The mission is only with its whole beginning. Although its price is weaker than the majority of the other projects of space probes, a launcher is nevertheless of course necessary. The rockets Atlas V and Delta IV were proposed.

Solar panels

Contrary to the probe Galileo, Juno will use solar panels rather than thermoelectric generators with radioisotope. The reason is the significant advance of photovoltaic technologies of cells and their effectiveness. That economically makes viable the use of enough large solar panels to provide sufficient electricity to such a distance from the Sun. Moreover RTG provide energy in limited quantity, making their availability delicate for the space missions. By using solar energy NASA also avoids the protests due to the sending of RTG in the space (concerning the risks for the public health, risks which NASA refuted in several detailed scientific reports/ratios). However it should be noted that NASA plans several other projects using of the RTG, and the decision to use RTG in this mission comes from practical and economic reasons rather than political.

References

External bonds

Official site of the mission Juno
key Dates of the Juno mission on the site of the exploration of the solar system of NASA
NASA selects a study according to the concept New Frontiers: the Juno mission towards Jupiter on the site of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
the Juno mission towards Jupiter on Space.com

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