Juno Mission Jupiter should shed light on the evolution of the Earth – NTV.ru

To get to Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar system, Juno probe took nearly five years. Launched in August 2011, he covered about 2 billion 800 million kilometers of space, and is now beginning to study the mysterious planet

Jim Green , Director of the Planetary NASA Research:. “We want to know, for example, the structure of the nucleus Jupiter ?? it is solid or gaseous. This will help us understand whether Jupiter was the first of the planets in the solar system formed. So as a result of this mission depends on an understanding of the evolution of our planet. »

NASA have already sent to Jupiter space stations, but questions remain. Over 20 months, for which designed the mission, will have to fly around the Juno Jupiter 37 times, falling to the surface of the planet to conduct detailed studies of the composition of the clouds, atmosphere and magnetic fields, but only if all goes well. Scientists fear that a huge level of radiation around Jupiter and dust clouds can damage the unit, flying at a speed of 212 thousand kilometers per hour

Scott Bolton , a leading specialist Juno project:.. “In addition to radiation around Jupiter threaten us as accumulation of dust and debris of asteroids that are close to the planet. We do not know exactly where they are, but getting into the main engine, which will be included at the time closer to the planet, could lead to catastrophic consequences. The probability of this is, of course, small. We take this into account in the development of Juno, and made him the space the tank ».

On board the Juno to fly around the planet will be three of Lego figures. One of them depicts Galileo ?? scientist, first discovered the four large moons of Jupiter. And the other two ?? it himself Jupiter, the sky god in Roman mythology, and his wife Juno ?? Juneau, on whose behalf and was named interplanetary probe.

In addition to a variety of equipment for a Juno and has established a special chamber. It will transmit to Earth color images of a distant planet. And NASA invites all who wish to choose the sites for taking pictures of Jupiter. The camera will work in November of this year, and the entire mission will last until February 2018-th. After that, the spacecraft sent to the collision with Jupiter.