Juno launched for Jupiter in 2011 to study the gas giant’s atmosphere, aurora, gravity and magnetic field. This infographic illustrates the radiation environments Juno has
traveled through on its journey near Earth and in interplanetary space. All of space is filled with particles, and when these particles move at high speeds, they’re called
radiation. With its insertion into orbit around Jupiter, Juno will now study one of the most intense radiation environments in the solar system. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
across Jupiter’s longitudes at a high
rate. The Advanced Stellar Compass
will image Jupiter’s north polar region
and darkened atmosphere, while the
Flux Gate Magnetometer will gather
additional data that may be useful
later to fill in potential gaps in the
global magnetic field mapping that
will occur during the science orbits.
Orbits 4 to 36, also known as the
Science Orbits, are where the bulk
of the science collection will occur.
On each pass of the planet, as the
spacecraft comes closest to Jupiter,
it will make small adjustments to its
speed, each less than 18 MPH, to ensure that on the next orbit, the longitudinal track for the closest encounter with Jupiter is where it should be.
Each Science orbit will not necessarily fly the same spacecraft orientation as the previous orbit. The reason
behind this is to highlight a specific
science instrument on that orbit,
sometimes it will be the Microwave
Radiometer (MWR), sometimes the
Gravity Science Experiment (GRAV),
it all depends on what science data
is predetermined to be the highest
priority gathered on the upcoming
orbit.
Even on orbits not oriented to be
a specific instrument’s ‘prime’ orbit,
at least some of the other science
packages will still operate. For example on a MWR orbit, the spacecraft
spin axis is oriented to get the best
view of the planet directly below,
so the JunoCam and the Infrared
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