Download Juno Fact Sheet and Outline Script Jupiter, the third brightest object

Juno Fact Sheet and Outline
Script
Jupiter, the third brightest object in the night sky. This distant point of light has beckoned humanity for
millennia in our quest for knowledge and to find place our in the universe. Humanities fascination with
the largest planet in the solar system continued from antiquity into the renaissance and the first time
humans looked up through a telescope. Galileo found a miniature solar system orbiting Jupiter and the
mysterious red storm.
Once humans started traveling into space we sent three missions to study the solar system’s juggernaut.
Most recently Jupiter was used for the New Horizons mission to accelerate the probe to Pluto. Now a
new mission is on its final approach to Jupiter.
Launched on August 5th 2011 atop an Atlas Five the Juno mission launched on its mission to enter into
Jupiter’s orbit on July 4th 2016. Throughout the course of the mission Juno has been controlled from the
Flight Control Center in Pasadena California at NASA JPL. A number of other originations are involved
with the mission. The Goddard Space Flight Center handles the instrumentation, Locked Marten is the
prime contractor which build the space craft and the Universities of Hawaii, California Institute of
Technology, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the Planetary Science Institute all make up the
primary science investigators. There are a total five international space science originations contributing
to this mission.
Juno is large for a probe of its kind, it is 11 feet tall and 11 feet wide its three large solar panels have a
total surface area of 650 square feet. This is the first time a spacecraft has been sent beyond the
asteroid belt and used solar cells as its power supply. As Juno travels further from the Earth’s distance
from the sun the light energy from our star becomes more diffuse. This is the reason for the large and
sensitive solar panels, which are now possible due to the advancements in solar cell technology.
After two years hurtling through the solar system Juno returned for a swing by Earth. Having previously
burned its maneuvering thrusters at its greatest distance from Earth to give the spacecraft a push then
when it flew by Earth this added speed increased exponentially due to the pull of our home. The gravity
assist accelerated Juno to a speed of 87,000 miles per hour.
This maneuver bye Earth gave Juno the required velocity to reach Jupiter.
After five years in space the spacecraft will finally arrive at its destination on July 4th 2016. As it enters
into Jupiter’s gravitational influence it will begin to speed up to 160,000 mile per hour making Juno the
fastest human made object in history. And now it must slow down or it will be lost in the depths of the
solar system.
Its LEROS 1b main engine will ignite at the lowest point in Juno’s pass of Jupiter, slowing the spacecraft
down and allowing it to be captured by Jupiter’s immense gravity. After two deceleration orbital
maneuvers Juno will be in its eccentric polar orbit. This will allow the Instruments to study the entire
suffice and interior of Jupiter. It also will protect Juno from the harmful radiation of the planet. Orbiting
up high then ducking low to just 31,000 miles above the cloud tops means the spacecraft spends a short
amount of time within the radiation belts of Jupiter. The main computer and other critical systems are
further protected in a one centimeter thick titanium compartment within the main body of Juno.
The design of the orbit and the space craft are meant to enable the 29 sensors and nine science
instruments to study the planet Jupiter like never before. Juno will look inside the planet using radio
links to Earth to measure the gravity waves of Jupiter, magnetometers, partial detectors and Microwave
sensors to draw conclusions about the origins of Jupiter interior structure and the solar system’s
formation.
By peering inside Jupiter’s core scientists hope to answer whether or not it has a condensed Hydrogen
center which due to pressure and magnetism behaves like a metal.
By understanding the magnetosphere of the planet and taking measurements of the charged particles
that Jupiter emits and absorbs in giant aurora, we will unlock not only the mystery of how the planet is
structured but also how it sustains the energy to generate the storms that move throughout its
atmosphere. Including where did the giant red storm come from. The answer to this grand mystery of
our solar neighborhood maybe just around the corner.
The studies of microwaves will allow for spectroscopy to be conducted on Jupiter. Juno will look for how
much water and thus oxygen Jupiter has. Depending how much water Jupiter has compared to the Sun,
either 3 or 9 times that of the Sun, will help answer when or how in the solar system’s history Jupiter
formed. Understanding the amount of water will also tell scientist the conditions in which the heavy
elements collapsed to help form Jupiter and how the rest of its gaseous structure formed together due
to the effects if gravity.
How and when Jupiter formed may hold clues to the process the reset of the solar system underwent
during its formation. Including hints to where Earth’s water came from and why the inner planets are
rocky.
After two years and 37 orbits Juno will take its final adventure into the atmosphere of Jupiter. The probe
will send back data of the environment of Jupiter until its final breakup.
For now Juno hurtles through space towards our neighborhood’s giant planet, its science instruments
primed to unlock the mysteries of a world first seen millennia ago.
Notes
Lunch system: Atlas Five 551 rocket accelerates Juno to escape velocity to achieve the speed necessary
to reach Jupiter it swings out to the distance of Mar’s orbit and then gravity assists around earth to
accelerate to Jupiter.
Earth Flyby: the pass by Earth gave Juno 8,800 mph boost in speed which will enable it to reach the
Jovian system. This also gave the science team a chance to do a rehearsal for the time Jun will spend
orbiting Jupiter.
Mission Team: Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio Texas, Mission Control is
at NASA JPL, Lockheed Martin primary construction contractor, Co-investigators Toby Owne of
University of Hawaii, Andrew Ingersoll of California Institute of Technology, Fran Bagnal of the University
of Colorado at Boulder, Candy Hansen of the Planetary Science Institute, and Jack Connerney of
Goddard Space Flight Center dealing with the instrumentation of the space craft.
Orbiting Jupiter: Juno will orbit in an eccentric polar orbit to better allow it to examine it magnetosphere
and study it aurora. Juno has a radiation vault one centimeter thick Titanium to protect its critical
electronics from the intense radiation around Jupiter. This in conjunction with its orbit will allow Juno to
operate for an extended period of time orbiting Jupiter.
The Space Craft
Power Supply: Juno will be the first space craft sent beyond the asteroid belt to be powered by solar
panels rather than an RTG. Orbiting Jupiter Juno will only receive 4% the solar energy it would if it where
orbiting Earth. This is possible due to the advancements in solar cell technology in the last decades.
Communication: Juno uses the terrestrial 70 meter antennae deep space network, the space craft sends
its X band signals in direct links to one of these large receivers on Earth.
Propulsion System: Juno’s main engine is a LEROS 1b manufactured by AMPAC-ISP in Westcott UK. The
engine uses Hydrazine and Nitrogen Tetroxide. Juno also has twelve small monopropellant RCS engines
which are mounted into 4 modules.
Instruments:
Gravity Science and Magnetometers to study Jupiter’s structure by mapping the planets gravity field and
magnetic field.
Microwave Radiometer to probe Jupiter’s deep atmosphere and measure how much water and hence
oxygen is there
JEDI, JADE and Waves to sample electric fields, plasma waves and particles around Jupiter to determine
how the magnetic field is connected to the atmosphere and especially the auroras
UVS and JIRAM using ultraviolet and infrared cameras take images of the atmosphere and auroras
including chemical fingerprint of the gases present
JunoCam
Take images and for visual analysis and outreach. Will only be operational for 7 orbits due to the
radiation and magnetic field.
Scientific Objectives Target Jupiter: fifth planet from the sun and of the 1% of the mass of the solar
system that is not part of the sun’s mass Jupiter takes up .5% of that remaining 1%. Half of all the
planetary and debris mass of our solar system is taken up by Jupiter.
Origins of the solar system
Elements, isotopes and evolution
Solar Composition
Importance of Water-dose Jupiter have 3 time the water as the Sun or 9 times the water?
Auroras
Atmospheric Sciences
Magnetosphere
Interiors
Mission Timeline
Date
August 2011
Event
Launched
August 2012
Status
Completed
Completed
Trajectory corrections[60]
September 2012
October 2013
Earth flyby for speed boost
Arrival to Jupiter and polar orbit insertion[3]
4 July 2016
Science phase: 37 orbits planned over 24 months
February 2018
spacecraft disposal in the form of a controlled deorbit into Jupiter[3]
Completed