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Juno will also fly over Europa and Io tori – ring-shaped ion clouds – on several occasions, characterizing the radiation environment near these satellites to better prepare the Europa Clipper and JUICE missions to optimize strategies for observation and planning, science priorities and mission. design. The extended mission also adds planetary geology and ring dynamics to Juno’s long list of scientific investigations.
An evolving orbit
The natural evolution of Juno’s orbit around the gas giant offers a wealth of new scientific opportunities on which the extended mission capitalizes. Each science pass sends the solar-powered spacecraft zooming low on Jupiter’s cloud tops, collecting data from a unique vantage point that no other spacecraft has enjoyed.
The point during each orbit where Juno comes closest to the planet is called a perijove (or PJ). During the mission, Juno’s perijoves migrated north, significantly improving resolution over the northern hemisphere. The extended mission design takes advantage of the continued northward migration of these perijoves to refine its view of the multiple cyclones circling the North Pole while incorporating annular and Galilean overflights.
“The mission designers did an incredible job crafting an extended mission that preserves the mission’s most valuable onboard resource – fuel,” said Ed Hirst, Juno project manager at JPL. “Gravity helps multiple satellite flyovers direct our spacecraft through the Jovian system while providing a multitude of scientific opportunities.” Satellite flyovers also shorten Juno’s orbital period, increasing the total number of scientific orbit that can be obtained.
Encounters with the satellites begin with a low-altitude flyover of Ganymede on June 7, 2021 (PJ34), which reduces the orbital period from about 53 days to 43 days. This flyby sets up a close flyby of Europa on September 29, 2022 (PJ45), reducing the orbital period to 38 days. A pair of flyovers near Io, on December 30, 2023 (PJ57) and February 3, 2024 (PJ58), combine to reduce the orbital period to 33 days.
Learn more about the mission
JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, Calif., Manages the Juno mission for Principal Investigator Scott J. Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA’s New Frontiers program, which is managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Missions Directorate in Washington. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built and operates the spacecraft.
More information about Juno is available at:
https://www.nasa.gov/juno
https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu
Follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at:
https://www.facebook.com/NASASolarSystem
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