October 24, 2017:
NASA’s Juno
spacecraft has
successfully
completed its 8th
science flyby of
Jupiter, passing
over the gas
giant’s
swirl
(
more)
October 24, 2017: NASA’s Juno spacecraft has successfully completed its 8th science flyby of Jupiter, passing over the gas giant’s swirling cloud tops once again as it continues to unravel the mysteries of the largest planet in the solar system.
The $1.1 billion Juno mission launched in August 2011 and arrived in orbit around Jupiter on July 4, 2016. Since then, the spacecraft has been studying the giant planet's structure, composition, and magnetic and gravitational fields, gathering data that mission scientists say should shed light on Jupiter's formation and evolution.
Juno is in a highly elliptical orbit that brings it close to the planet once every 53.5 Earth days. The spacecraft collects most of its data during these close passes; it has now completed eight of them.
Juno is scheduled to keep studying Jupiter through July 2018, though the probe won't necessarily cease operations then; NASA could end up granting an extending mission.
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