WASHINGTON, July 5. / Corr. Ivan Lebedev TASS /. American spacecraft Juno ( “Juno”) on Monday entered the orbit of Jupiter. As reported by NASA’s, this interplanetary station on 35 minutes turned on at 23:18 on the US east coast time (6:18 MSK on Tuesday) its engine, slowing the rate of up to 542 meters per second, and being under the influence of gravitational forces of the largest planet of the solar system.
During engine operation the Juno other devices, including a video camera have been disabled, and those skilled in the jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena (California) followed him only with the help of a radio signal.
” All activities have been programmed in advance Juno probe is flying on autopilot, and the intervention of operators in the world does not need “- said the technical manager of the project from the jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena (California), Ed Hurst. During the five-year flight engine was switched twice.
The device is exposed to a dense layer of debris and dust, as well as extremely strong radiation in Jupiter area where the giant planet’s magnetic field accelerates charged particles to nearly the speed of light. “Therefore, it is built like an armored tank”, – he said the supervisor of the project, Scott Bolton of Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio (Texas)
According to him, the device is designed to work “in a very. aggressive environment, “and all of its instruments and tools are protected 180-pound titanium shell. This will allow them to work a little longer, even in conditions of high radiation activity. Overall Juno mission cost of $ 1.1 billion is designed for two years.
A look through the clouds
his main task after reaching orbit will be to deploy its solar panels. Then, within 12 months of the station, weighing about four tons, will make 37 turns around the planet, approaching it at a distance of five thousand kilometers.
The main objective of Juno – to receive and pass on information about the structure of the Earth, the atmosphere and the magnetosphere of the planet. Scientists want to, in particular, to test the hypothesis about the presence of Jupiter solid core and we are sure that in any case will have unique data that will help to better understand the processes of formation of the various celestial bodies, not only in the solar system, but also in the universe.
“In fact, Juno is needed in order to learn the recipe of creation of solar systems – Bolton said -. Scientists do not yet understand how planets form.” Experts also expect to observe the 67 known moons of Jupiter, and do not rule out that the new find.
The death of the Goddess
interplanetary station, created by NASA commissioned by Lockheed Martin, has established a distance record when running on solar batteries – its distance from the Sun it exceeded 830 million km. So far into space before it climbed only eight units, but they all use thermoelectric generators isotopes
Juno -. Not the first American unit sent to Jupiter. Galileo probe was in its orbit for eight years. Juno probe will also be destroyed, “descended from orbit and completely destroyed in the atmosphere of the gas giant”.
interplanetary station broke in space 2.8 billion km in five years. To make such a journey she helped the Earth’s gravitational force. At first she was put on a hyperbolic orbit around our planet, and two years after the launch back to it, to using its gravity to accelerate and make a breakthrough in space
Juno -. One of the three machines, built by experts NASA under the program “New Frontiers”. The other two – a space probe New Horizons, flown in the past year at a short distance from Pluto, and scientific probe OSIRIS-REx, which in September should go to the asteroid Bennu
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