NASA's Juno solar powered probe
Today should see the launch from Cape Canaveral of an unmanned Atlas 5 rocket carrying onboard NASA’s Jupiter bound Juno spacecraft.
It is equipped with three large areas of solar panel that will be deployed and unfold after launch, giving around 60 square metres of panel in total and leaving the craft looking rather like a windmill. It will take Juno five years to reach its destination, where it will be placed into a polar orbit around the planet to study the composition, gravity and magnetic fields, and polar magnetoshpere. Juno will also search for clues about the formation of Jupiter, including whether the planet has a rocky core, the amount of water present within the deep atmosphere, and how the mass is distributed within the planet. Juno will also study Jupiter's deep winds, which can reach speeds of 600 kms per hour (370 mph).
The robotic explorer will become the first probe to have ever travelled so far, powered by the solar wings which will still provide 400 watts of power despite being nearly 500 million miles away from the sun. After orbiting Jupiter 33 times in one year gathering data, the probe will be crashed into the planet, concluding the mission in 2017.
It is equipped with three large areas of solar panel that will be deployed and unfold after launch, giving around 60 square metres of panel in total and leaving the craft looking rather like a windmill. It will take Juno five years to reach its destination, where it will be placed into a polar orbit around the planet to study the composition, gravity and magnetic fields, and polar magnetoshpere. Juno will also search for clues about the formation of Jupiter, including whether the planet has a rocky core, the amount of water present within the deep atmosphere, and how the mass is distributed within the planet. Juno will also study Jupiter's deep winds, which can reach speeds of 600 kms per hour (370 mph).
The robotic explorer will become the first probe to have ever travelled so far, powered by the solar wings which will still provide 400 watts of power despite being nearly 500 million miles away from the sun. After orbiting Jupiter 33 times in one year gathering data, the probe will be crashed into the planet, concluding the mission in 2017.
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