NASA Launches Juno Mission To Study Jupiter.

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Today NASA launched Juno. The mission is part of a mission to study Jupiter, the giant gas planet that could house the rest of the solar system inside of its massive belly.

Bad Astronomy:

Juno will take 5 years to get to Jupiter, taking the 3 billion kilometer scenic route. In October 2013 it will actually pass the Earth once again, using the gravity of Earth and its motion around the Sun to steal a tiny bit of our energy and propel it to the outer solar system. From here, it will take a wide elliptical path to the giant planet, which orbits the Sun 5 times farther out than the Earth does. That’s why it takes so long.

Once there, it will orbit Jupiter for about an Earth year (how cool and science fictiony is it be able to say that?), taking its measure of Jupiter’s atmosphere, composition, surrounding environment, and magnetic field. It’s equipped with microwave, ultraviolet, infrared, and visible light detectors (which means very high-resolution pictures!) as well as other instruments to try to understand this enormous planet.

The entire enterprise is very cool. Jupiter with its Great Red Spot and impressive storms is a gorgeous son of a bitch, and I’m looking forward to hearing what the mission yields. Space exploration isn’t manned, but thankfully it isn’t dead