NASA’s Juno orbiter has been doing some really great work while in orbit around gas giant Jupiter. The spacecraft has taught scientists a great deal about the planet, as well as the processes that power its massive storms and swirling clouds. The mission has been an incredible success already, but NASA wants to keep it going as long as possible and doing so means avoiding Jupiter’s shadow.
Juno is solar-powered. It has thrusters that allow it to tweak its trajectory, but the juice that keeps its instruments up and running (and prevents them from freezing) comes from the Sun. As you might expect, avoiding the shadow of the largest planet in our solar system is tricky when that’s the planet you’re orbiting.
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NASA’s Juno orbiter has to jump over Jupiter’s shadow, or die trying originally appeared on BGR.com on Thu, 3 Oct 2019 at 14:02:45 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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