The Fourth of July is rapidly approaching, kicking off a time for grilling, setting off fireworks, relaxing with friends, and celebrating the birth of our great country. But something extra-special is happening this year.
NASA’s Juno spacecraft (named after the wife of Jupiter, king of the Roman gods), will finish its nearly five-year journey to the hostile orbit of Jupiter. The craft is expected to enter orbit on July 4 around 9 p.m. EST. It has flown more than 360 million miles just for the chance to orbit the largest planet in our solar system for a year and a half.
According to Popular Mechanics, the Jovian system is one of the most hostile places in our solar system due to the high amount of radiation. The spacecraft will be flying so low to the planet (a mere 2,900 miles above the planet's cloud tops) that the spacecraft will only have about a year and a half at most to complete its mission before its electronics are inevitably fried -- and that's if everything goes perfectly.
But during those 18 months, the Juno spacecraft will have to deal with all sorts of potential risks, including debris, radiation, and an incredibly strong magnetic field. On top of those external risks, there is also a chance of internal malfunctions and the incredibly difficult entrance maneuvers that still need to executed.
NASA's reportedly invested $1.1 billion in the venture. The spacecraft will analyze everything it can about Jupiter, including determining how much water is present in the atmosphere, measuring Jupiter's magnetic and gravitational fields to figure out whether the gas giant has a solid core, and tracking the orbits of Jupiter's moons to help create a detailed map of the planet.
But what scientists really hope to gain from this data is knowledge of how Jupiter, as well as the other planets in our solar system, were formed.
“What we really want is the recipe. How do you make these planets?” says Scott Bolton, Juno’s principal investigator. “Jupiter was the first planet to form, so it gives you the very first step in that recipe. What happened after the sun formed that allowed the planets to form? That is not only the history of our solar system, but of us here at Earth.”
“Jupiter has more mass and material than all the other planets combines,” continues Bolton. “It got the majority of the leftovers after the sun formed, so you can’t really understand the formation and creating of the solar system without first figuring out, ‘How did you make Jupiter?’”
Juno is the second spacecraft to orbit this gas giant. The previous probe, called the Galileo Probe (named after Galileo Galilei, famous Italian astronomer), was in flight from 1995 to 2003. It orbited Jupiter for two years before plummeting into the planet. During its flight and descent, it was able to take scientific measurements and pictures of Jupiter's moons.
So while you're out barbecuing and waiting for the fireworks to begin, try and find Jupiter in the evening sky. You won't be able to see the spacecraft entering orbit, but you can still celebrate the occasion by appreciating the adventure.