Juno will also fly through Europe and Io tori – ionic clouds of ions on several occasions and characterize the radiation environment near these satellites to better prepare the Europa Clipper and JUICE missions for optimizing observation strategies and planning, scientific priorities and mission design. The extended mission also adds planetary geology and ring dynamics to Juno’s extensive list of scientific investigations.
An evolving orbit
The natural evolution of Juno’s orbit around the host giant offers the wealth of new scientific opportunities on which the extended mission will benefit. Each science pass sends the solar-powered spacecraft low over Jupiter’s cloud tops and collects 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 perijove (or PJ). During the course of the mission, Juno’s perijoves migrated northward, dramatically improving the resolution over the northern hemisphere. The design of the extended mission utilizes the continuous northward migration of these perijoves to sharpen the view of the multiple cyclones surrounding the North Pole while capturing the ring and Galilean lunar planes.
“The mission designers have done an amazing job of expanding an extensive mission that retains the mission’s most valuable resource on board – fuel,” said Ed Hirst, Juno Project Manager at JPL. “Gravity assistance from several satellite planes sends our spacecraft through the Jovian system, while providing a wealth of scientific opportunities.” The satellite planes also reduce Juno’s orbits, increasing the total number of scientific orbits that can be obtained. ”
The satellite encounters begin at a low altitude flight of Ganymede on June 7, 2021 (PJ34), reducing the orbital period from about 53 days to 43 days. That fly bee sets up a close flight from Europe on 29 September 2022 (PJ45), further reducing the orbital period to 38 days. A few close Io flights on December 30, 2023 (PJ57) and February 3, 2024 (PJ58) combine to reduce the orbital period to 33 days.
More about the mission
JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Juno mission for Chief Investigator Scott J. Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA’s New Frontiers program, managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built and operated 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