Juno meets Jupiter as crucial orbit manoeuvre looms

Juno meets Jupiter as crucial orbit manoeuvre looms
By Euronews

It is fingers crossed time at NASA as the Juno spacecraft enters a crucial phase of its Jupiter mission.

It is fingers crossed time at NASA as the Juno) spacecraft enters a crucial phase of its Jupiter mission.

The robotic probe will have a 35-minute window that will allow it to be pulled in orbit around Jupiter.

It has been a long journey for Juno it left Cape Canaveral on August 5, 2011.

Jim Green is Director of Planetary Science at NASA:“We’ve had a number of probes fly by Jupiter, Galileo actually was our last probe to Jupiter that orbited it for many years. It studied the planet, but only surface-deep, looked at all the moons. And now we have a chance with Juno to go back and study the planet in its own right.”

If everything goes to plan Juno will study Jupiter from a polar orbit of 5,000 kilometers.

The “suspenseful” manoeuvre takes place at 05.53 CET.

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