NASA is scheduled to launch Juno, a spacecraft that will travel to Jupiter and send back a huge amount of information about the solar system’s largest planet.
Scheduled to launch Friday at 11:34 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Juno will embark on a five-year trip and arrive at Jupiter in July 2016.
The mission costs an estimated $1.1 billion but scientists believe it’ll be well worth it. It will give us an unprecedented look into Jupiter’s secrets.
Juno will be the first human-made, solar-powered spacecraft to fly to Jupiter. It’s scheduled to fly over Jupiter’s poles and investigate the planet’s atmosphere, magnetic and gravity fields as well as Jupiter’s fierce winds, which blow at speeds up to 370 miles per hour. At the end of its journey, Juno will have made 33 orbits around Jupiter, after which it will crash into the giant gas planet.
Check out NASA’s animation describing details of Juno’s mission below.
Image courtesy of NASA
[via Space.com]
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Posted on Fri, 05 Aug 2011 12:40:46 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/DM3W8x_9sFw/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/05/nasa-juno-jupiter/#comments
Scheduled to launch Friday at 11:34 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Juno will embark on a five-year trip and arrive at Jupiter in July 2016.
The mission costs an estimated $1.1 billion but scientists believe it’ll be well worth it. It will give us an unprecedented look into Jupiter’s secrets.
Juno will be the first human-made, solar-powered spacecraft to fly to Jupiter. It’s scheduled to fly over Jupiter’s poles and investigate the planet’s atmosphere, magnetic and gravity fields as well as Jupiter’s fierce winds, which blow at speeds up to 370 miles per hour. At the end of its journey, Juno will have made 33 orbits around Jupiter, after which it will crash into the giant gas planet.
Check out NASA’s animation describing details of Juno’s mission below.
Image courtesy of NASA
[via Space.com]
More About: Juno, Jupiter, NASA, Space Flight, spacecraftFor more Tech & Gadgets coverage:Follow Mashable Tech & Gadgets on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Tech & Gadgets channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Fri, 05 Aug 2011 12:40:46 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/DM3W8x_9sFw/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/05/nasa-juno-jupiter/#comments