NASA's Juno Spacecraft successfully enters Jupiter’s orbit

Juno spacecraft of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on 4 July 2016 successfully entered Jupiter’s orbit.

Confirmation of a successful orbit insertion was received from Juno tracking data monitored at the navigation facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

Juno's main aim is to understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter. The spacecraft will also investigate the existence of a solid planetary core, map Jupiter's intense magnetic field, measure the amount of water and ammonia in the deep atmosphere and observe the planet's auroras.

About Juno

• Juno is a NASA New Frontiers mission launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on 5 August 2011.

• It is in a polar orbit to study Jupiter's composition, gravity field, magnetic field and polar magnetosphere.

• It will determine how much water is in Jupiter's atmosphere.

• It will look deep into Jupiter's atmosphere to measure composition, temperature, cloud motions and other properties.

• It will map Jupiter's magnetic and gravity fields, revealing the planet's deep structure.

• It will explore and study Jupiter's magnetosphere near the planet's poles, especially the auroras, i.e. Jupiter's northern and southern lights.

• It is the second spacecraft to orbit Jupiter after the Galileo probe which orbited from 1995–2003.

• It is powered by solar arrays.

• The spacecraft's name comes from Greco-Roman mythology.

• The mission had previously been referred to as JUpiter Near-polar Orbiter in a list of NASA acronyms.

• The spacecraft will orbit the giant planet 37 times in around 20 months.

• Juno will dispose off in the form of a controlled deorbit into Jupiter in February 2018.

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