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NASA Readies Juno Spacecraft for Jupiter Trip

July 27, 2011 | WMFE - NASA's Juno spacecraft Wednesday moved onto the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The solar-powered craft will begin its five-year journey to Jupiter with a liftoff scheduled for Friday, August 5th.

NASA Planetary Science Director Jim Green says a new era starts with Juno. 

“Juno is really the first in a whole series of planetary science missions that are beginning,” says Green. “Juno will launch in early August, we’ll have Grail going to the moon in September, and then we’ll launch the Mars Science Laboratory to Mars in November.”

Juno may be kicking off a trio of similar launches, but at least one element of Juno is unique, says mission principle investigator Scott Bolton.

“We’re the first ones to go out that far, to Jupiter’s distance, solar-powered,” Bolton says. “Jupiter’s five times the distance from the sun as the earth, so the amount of sunlight is 25 times less. So we’re very efficient and we’re pushing the envelope on solar power there." 

Bolton explains that many scientists believe Jupiter was the first planet in the solar system. So, the mission to Jupiter may answer some big questions.

“If we want to go back in time and understand where we came from, and how the planets were made, Jupiter holds the secret, because it got most of the leftovers after the sun formed, so we want to know that ingredient list," says Bolton. "What we’re really after is discovering the recipe for making planets, and we’re back at the first step of making sure we have all the ingredients in that recipe.”

Juno will orbit Jupiter for a year beginning in 2016, sending back information on the planet’s atmosphere, gravity and composition.

 

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