JUNO - Atlas V 551 - Canaveral SLC-41 - 05.08.2011

[SashaBad]

Юпитер впечатляет. 

[che wi]

Juno Completes Tenth Science Orbit of Jupiter

Juno accomplished a close flyby over Jupiter's churning atmosphere on Wednesday, Feb. 7, successfully completing its tenth science orbit. The closest approach was at 6:36 a.m. PST (9:36 a.m. PST) Earth-received time. At the time of perijove (the point in Juno's orbit when it is closest to the planet's center), the spacecraft will be about 2,100 miles (3,500 kilometers) above the planet's cloud tops.

This flyby was a gravity science orientation pass. During orbits that highlight gravity experiments, Juno is in an Earth-pointed orientation that allows both the X-band and Ka-Band transmitter to downlink data in real-time to one of the antennas of NASA's Deep Space Network in Goldstone, California. All of Juno's science instruments and the spacecraft's JunoCam were in operation during the flyby, collecting data that is now being returned to Earth.

New raw images will be available for processing at: www.missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam

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Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 8 мин. назад

FEATURE ARTICLE: Juno in good health; decision point nears on mission's end or extension -

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/02/juno-good-health-decision-point-missions-end-extension/ ... -

By Chris Gebhardt (@ChrisG_NSF)
Includes NSF Renders by Nathan Koga

Спойлер

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NASA's Juno Spacecraft Reveals the Depth of Jupiter's Colored Bands

  NASA

Опубликовано: 7 мар. 2018 г.

For hundreds of years, this gaseous giant planet appeared shrouded in colorful bands of clouds extending from dusk to dawn, referred to as zones and belts. Story: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa...

The bands were thought to be an expression of Jovian weather, related to winds blowing eastward and westward at different speeds.

This animation illustrates a recent discovery by Juno that demonstrates these east-west flows, also known as jet-streams penetrate deep into the planet's atmosphere, to a depth of about 1,900 miles (3,000 kilometers). Due to Jupiter's rapid rotation (Jupiter's day is about 10 hours), these flows extend into the interior parallel to Jupiter's axis of rotation, in the form of nested cylinders. Below this layer the flows decay, possibly slowed by Jupiter's strong magnetic field.

The depth of these flows surprised scientists who estimate the total mass involved in these jet streams to be about 1% of Jupiter's mass (Jupiter's mass is over 300 times that of Earth). This discovery was revealed by the unprecedented accuracy of Juno's measurements of the gravity field.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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[zandr]

https://ria.ru/science/20180308/1516020547.html

Ученые "заглянули" внутрь Юпитера
МОСКВА, 8 мар — РИА Новости. Благодаря данным, переданным аппаратом Juno, ученые узнали многое о внутреннем строении Юпитера, сообщается на сайте NASA.
Так, выяснилось, что потоки в атмосфере крупнейшей планеты Солнечной системы проникают в нее на глубину порядка трех тысяч километров — значительно глубже, чем предполагалось ранее. В этом слое сосредоточен примерно один процент массы Юпитера.
"Для сравнения: атмосфера Земли — не более одной миллионной доли ее массы", — пояснил Йохай Каспи, ученый из института Вейцмана в Израиле.
Другие данные Juno свидетельствуют, что под этим слоем Юпитер вращается почти как твердое тело. Кроме того, аппарат позволил ученым собрать информацию о том, что происходит ближе к полюсам этой планеты.
На севере Юпитера центральный циклон окружен восемью другими диаметром от 4000 до 4600 километров. Аналогичное явление отмечено и на юге планеты: там вокруг центрального циклона расположены еще пять, но их диаметр составляет от 5600 до 7000 километров.

With unearthly jet-streams, many massive swirling cyclones and winds running deep into its atmosphere — new data from our @NASAJuno mission to Jupiter unveils discoveries and clues about the gas-giant planet. Take a look: https://t.co/4r1ZLdykjQ pic.twitter.com/qs3eIZ3WYC
— NASA (@NASA) 7 марта 2018 г.

Несмотря на то что эти циклоны расположены очень близко, они не сливаются друг с другом. "Во всей Солнечной системе нет другого примера подобного явления, о котором мы знаем", — подчеркнул ученый из Института космической астрофизики и планетологии в Риме Альберто Адриани.
Всего в четверг в журнале Nature были опубликованы четыре статьи, посвященные исследованию Юпитера.

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https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-juno-findings-jupiter-s-jet-streams-are-unearthly

March 7, 2018

NASA Juno Findings - Jupiter's Jet-Streams Are Unearthly


This composite image, derived from data collected by the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument aboard NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter, shows the central cyclone at the planet's north pole and the eight cyclones that encircle it.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI/INAF/JIRAM
Full image and caption

Data collected by NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter indicate that the atmospheric winds of the gas-giant planet run deep into its atmosphere and last longer than similar atmospheric processes found here on Earth. The findings will improve understanding of Jupiter's interior structure, core mass and, eventually, its origin.

Other Juno science results released today include that the massive cyclones that surround Jupiter's north and south poles are enduring atmospheric features and unlike anything else encountered in our solar system. The findings are part of a four-article collection on Juno science results being published in the March 8 edition of the journal Nature.

Спойлер

This computer-generated image is based on an infrared image of Jupiter's north polar region that was acquired on February 2, 2017, by the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument aboard Juno during the spacecraft's fourth pass over Jupiter.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI/INAF/JIRAM
Full image and caption

"These astonishing science results are yet another example of Jupiter's curve balls, and a testimony to the value of exploring the unknown from a new perspective with next-generation instruments. Juno's unique orbit and evolutionary high-precision radio science and infrared technologies enabled these paradigm-shifting discoveries," said Scott Bolton, principal investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio. "Juno is only about one third the way through its primary mission, and already we are seeing the beginnings of a new Jupiter."

The depth to which the roots of Jupiter's famous zones and belts extend has been a mystery for decades. Gravity measurements collected by Juno during its close flybys of the planet have now provided an answer.


This computer-generated image shows the structure of the cyclonic pattern observed over Jupiter's south pole. Like in the North, Jupiter's south pole also contains a central cyclone, but it is surrounded by five cyclones with diameters ranging from 3,500 to 4,300 miles (5,600 to 7,000 kilometers) in diameter.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI/INAF/JIRAM
Full image and caption

"Juno's measurement of Jupiter's gravity field indicates a north-south asymmetry, similar to the asymmetry observed in its zones and belts," said Luciano Iess, Juno co-investigator from Sapienza University of Rome, and lead author on a Nature paper on Jupiter's gravity field.

On a gas planet, such an asymmetry can only come from flows deep within the planet; and on Jupiter, the visible eastward and westward jet streams are likewise asymmetric north and south. The deeper the jets, the more mass they contain, leading to a stronger signal expressed in the gravity field. Thus, the magnitude of the asymmetry in gravity determines how deep the jet streams extend.
 

"Galileo viewed the stripes on Jupiter more than 400 years ago," said Yohai Kaspi, Juno co-investigator from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, and lead author of a Nature paper on Jupiter's deep weather layer. "Until now, we only had a superficial understanding of them and have been able to relate these stripes to cloud features along Jupiter's jets. Now, following the Juno gravity measurements, we know how deep the jets extend and what their structure is beneath the visible clouds. It's like going from a 2-D picture to a 3-D version in high definition."

The result was a surprise for the Juno science team because it indicated that the weather layer of Jupiter was more massive, extending much deeper than previously expected. The Jovian weather layer, from its very top to a depth of 1,900 miles (3,000 kilometers), contains about one percent of Jupiter's mass (about 3 Earth masses).


(video 0:40)
For hundreds of years, this gaseous giant planet appeared shrouded in colorful bands of clouds extending from dusk to dawn, referred to as zones and belts. The bands were thought to be an expression of Jovian weather, related to winds blowing eastward and westward at different speeds. This animation illustrates a recent discovery by Juno that demonstrates these east-west flows, also known as jet-streams penetrate deep into the planet's atmosphere, to a depth of about 1,900 miles (3,000 kilometers). Due to Jupiter's rapid rotation (Jupiter's day is about 10 hours), these flows extend into the interior parallel to Jupiter's axis of rotation, in the form of nested cylinders. Below this layer the flows decay, possibly slowed by Jupiter's strong magnetic field. The depth of these flows surprised scientists who estimate the total mass involved in these jet streams to be about 1% of Jupiter's mass (Jupiter's mass is over 300 times that of Earth). This discovery was revealed by the unprecedented accuracy of Juno's measurements of the gravity field.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI

"By contrast, Earth's atmosphere is less than one millionth of the total mass of Earth," said Kaspi "The fact that Jupiter has such a massive region rotating in separate east-west bands is definitely a surprise."

The finding is important for understanding the nature and possible mechanisms driving these strong jet streams. In addition, the gravity signature of the jets is entangled with the gravity signal of Jupiter's core.

Another Juno result released today suggests that beneath the weather layer, the planet rotates nearly as a rigid body. "This is really an amazing result, and future measurements by Juno will help us understand how the transition works between the weather layer and the rigid body below," said Tristan Guillot, a Juno co-investigator from the Université Côte d'Azur, Nice, France, and lead author of the paper on Jupiter's deep interior. "Juno's discovery has implications for other worlds in our solar system and beyond. Our results imply that the outer differentially-rotating region should be at least three times deeper in Saturn and shallower in massive giant planets and brown dwarf stars."

A truly striking result released in the Nature papers is the beautiful new imagery of Jupiter's poles captured by Juno's Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument. Imaging in the infrared part of the spectrum, JIRAM captures images of light emerging from deep inside Jupiter equally well, night or day. JIRAM probes the weather layer down to 30 to 45 miles (50 to 70 kilometers) below Jupiter's cloud tops.

"Prior to Juno we did not know what the weather was like near Jupiter's poles. Now, we have been able to observe the polar weather up-close every two months," said Alberto Adriani, Juno co-investigator from the Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology, Rome, and lead author of the paper. "Each one of the northern cyclones is almost as wide as the distance between Naples, Italy and New York City -- and the southern ones are even larger than that. They have very violent winds, reaching, in some cases, speeds as great as 220 mph (350 kph). Finally, and perhaps most remarkably, they are very close together and enduring. There is nothing else like it that we know of in the solar system."

Jupiter's poles are a stark contrast to the more familiar orange and white belts and zones encircling the planet at lower latitudes. Its north pole is dominated by a central cyclone surrounded by eight circumpolar cyclones with diameters ranging from 2,500 to 2,900 miles (4,000 to 4,600 kilometers) across. Jupiter's south pole also contains a central cyclone, but it is surrounded by five cyclones with diameters ranging from 3,500 to 4,300 miles (5,600 to 7,000 kilometers) in diameter. Almost all the polar cyclones, at both poles, are so densely packed that their spiral arms come in contact with adjacent cyclones. However, as tightly spaced as the cyclones are, they have remained distinct, with individual morphologies over the seven months of observations detailed in the paper.

"The question is, why do they not merge?" said Adriani. "We know with Cassini data that Saturn has a single cyclonic vortex at each pole. We are beginning to realize that not all gas giants are created equal."

Abstracts of the March 8 Juno papers can be found online:

The measurement of Jupiter's asymmetric gravity field:

http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature25776 

Jupiter's atmospheric jet-streams extending thousands of kilometers deep:

http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature25793 

A suppression of differential rotation in Jupiter's deep interior:

http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature25775

Clusters of Cyclones Encircling Jupiter's Poles:

http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature25491

To date, Juno has completed 10 science passes over Jupiter and logged almost 122 million miles (200 million kilometers), since entering Jupiter's orbit on July 4, 2016. Juno's 11th science pass will be on April 1.

Juno launched on Aug. 5, 2011, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. During its mission of exploration, Juno soars low over the planet's cloud tops -- as close as about 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers). During these flybys, Juno is probing beneath the obscuring cloud cover of Jupiter and studying its auroras to learn more about the planet's origins, structure, weather layer and magnetosphere.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA's New Frontiers Program, which is managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The Italian Space Agency (ASI), contributed two instruments, a Ka-band frequency translator (KaT) and the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM). Lockheed Martin Space, Denver, built the spacecraft.

https://www.nasa.gov/juno

https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu

The public can follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at:

https://www.facebook.com/NASAJuno

https://www.twitter.com/NASAJuno

More information on Jupiter can be found at:

https://www.nasa.gov/jupiter


DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
agle@jpl.nasa.gov 

Dwayne Brown / Laurie Cantillo
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726 / 202-358-1077
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov / laura.l.cantillo@nasa.gov

2018-044

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Last Updated: March 8, 2018
Editor: Tony Greicius

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Jupiter's Great Red Spot Shrinks and Grows

  NASA Goddard

Опубликовано: 13 мар. 2018 г.

This video takes viewers on a journey to Jupiter, where NASA scientists have made an interesting discovery about the Great Red Spot.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/David Ladd

 (2:06)

[zandr]

https://ria.ru/science/20180314/1516364688.html

Зонд НАСА нашел странные аномалии в жизни Большого красного пятна Юпитера
МОСКВА, 14 мар – РИА Новости. Зонд НАСА Juno впервые проследил за тем, как меняется облик большого красного пятна Юпитера, и обнаружил, что площадь этого "вечного урагана" постепенно сокращается, а его высота, наоборот, растет, сообщают ученые в статье, опубликованной в издании Astrophysical Journal.
"В астрономических архивах можно найти записи о том, что Большое красное пятно увеличивалось и уменьшалось в размерах в прошлом. Сейчас его размеры относительно невелики, и оно очень давно не росло", — рассказывает Рета Биб, астроном из университета штата Нью-Мексико в Лас-Крусес (США).

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Большое красное пятно, как считается, впервые обнаружил итальянский астроном Джованни Кассини: его изображение нашли в рисунках ученого от 1665 года. Как выяснили планетологи позднее, оно представляет собой мощнейший ураган-антициклон, чьи ветра движутся с невероятно высокой скоростью — около 430 километров в час.
Размеры этого пятна оцениваются не в километрах, а в диаметрах Земли – оно примерно в 1,3 раза шире, чем наша планета, а перепад температур в его теплых и холодных точках превышает несколько сотен градусов. Как сегодня считают астрономы, "великое пятно" работает, как грелка, перекачивая тепло из недр Юпитера в его атмосферу, чьи температуры заметно превышают те значения, которые предсказывает теория. 

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В прошлом, как отмечает Биб, размеры этого урагана были заметно больше, чем сегодня — он мог вместить в себя не одну, а сразу три Земли. Почему его площадь уменьшается и как этот процесс влияет на поведение всего пятна в целом, ученые пока не знают.
Астрономы НАСА закрыли этот пробел в знаниях, проанализировав данные, которые зонд Juno собирал на протяжении последних 1,5 лет работы на орбите Юпитера. За это время он успел сблизиться с планетой и ее пятном больше десяти раз и получить первые детальные научные данные по их внутренней структуре.
Объединив их со снимками пятна в недавнем прошлом, полученными при помощи камер "Вояджеров" и "Хаббла", ученые смогли раскрыть тайны эволюции этого загадочного урагана, и выяснить, что отличает большое пятно Юпитера от его "младших братьев" на Земле.
В частности, снимки с Juno подтвердили, что площадь урагана действительно уменьшается — его длина и ширина каждый год сокращаются примерно на 0,04 градуса, что эквивалентно примерно 48 километрам. Для сравнения, диаметр самого мощного урагана последних лет, Сэнди, составлял примерно 1500 километров.
По словам Биб, ученые ожидали, что сокращение в площади заставит ветра Большого красного пятна двигаться еще быстрее, как это происходит в "умирающих" земных ураганах. Ничего подобного не происходит на Юпитере – вместо этого "вечный ураган" начал расти вверх, охватывая все более высокие слои атмосферы планеты. Вдобавок, в последние годы начал меняться и цвет урагана – пятно становится все более темным, меняя свой цвет с кремового на черно-оранжевый.
Причины всех этих изменений остаются загадкой для ученых, и пока не понятно, стабилизируется ли ураган или он по-прежнему будет уменьшаться в длину и ширину. На текущий момент времени астрономы не исключают возможности того, что самый большой ураган Солнечной системы закончит свое существование уже в ближайшие 5-10 лет.

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NASA's Juno Mission‏Подлинная учетная запись @NASAJuno 15 мар.
Everything's coming up roses. See a close-up view of a storm with bright cloud tops in this rose-colored view of #Jupiter. https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/news/rose-colored-jupiter ...pic.twitter.com/JjODp2o3ek


https://ria.ru/space/20180317/1516607847.html

В розовом цвете: NASA опубликовало фото бури на Юпитере
МОСКВА, 17 мар — РИА Новости. NASA опубликовало фотографию бури на Юпитере, сделанную автоматической межпланетной станцией Juno.
На снимке запечатлен шторм, бушующий на северном полушарии планеты.
Изображение было сделано в феврале во время одиннадцатого сближения Juno с Юпитером. Аппарат находился примерно в 12 тысячах километров от облачного слоя газового гиганта.
Ученые-любители обработали сделанный межпланетной станцией снимок с помощью фоторедактора, благодаря чему облачные пики окрасились в розовый цвет.

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Jason Major‏ @JPMajor 15 ч.15 часов назад


A swath of #Jupiter's northern hemisphere with an anticyclonic storm imaged by @NASAJuno during its P12 pass on April 1, 2018

[zandr]

https://in-space.ru/intriguyushhie-oblaka-yupitera/

Интригующие облака Юпитера
Двенадцатый близкий облет самой большой планеты Солнечной системы подарил ученым захватывающие виды северного полушария Юпитера.
Завитки облаков северного полушария Юпитера, показанные на новом изображении космического аппарата NASA «Juno», напоминают смешение красок в палитре живописца.
Снимок камеры JunoCam, обработанный внештатным ученым Кевином М. Гиллом с повышением насыщенности цвета, был получен 1 апреля, когда «Juno» совершал свой двенадцатый близкий облет газового гиганта. В момент съемки космический аппарат был удален от вершин облаков Юпитера на 12 326 километров, находясь на уровне 50 градусов северной широты.
Облака северного полушария Юпитера. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill    
Зонд «Juno» отправился к Юпитеру 5 августа 2011 с мыса Канаверал штата Флорида (США). В настоящее время космический аппарат исследует облачный покров и изучает полярные сияния Юпитера, чтобы больше узнать о происхождении, структуре, погодном фронте и магнитосфере планеты.
Основной этап миссии зонда завершится 16 июля 2018 года во время четырнадцатого облета Юпитера. Дальнейшая судьба «Juno» будет зависеть от руководителей проекта, которые на данный момент рассматривают два варианта: продолжение миссии или погружение космического аппарата в атмосферу газового гиганта.

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Low 3-D Flyover of Jupiter's North Pole in Infrared

NASA

Опубликовано: 11 апр. 2018 г.

In this animation the viewer is taken low over Jupiter's north pole to illustrate the 3-D aspects of the region's central cyclone and the eight cyclones that encircle it.

Read more: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa...

The movie utilizes imagery derived from data collected by the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument aboard NASA's Juno mission during its fourth pass over the massive planet. Infrared cameras are used to sense the temperature of Jupiter's atmosphere and provide insight into how the powerful cyclones at Jupiter's poles work. In the animation, the yellow areas are warmer (or deeper into Jupiter's atmosphere) and the dark areas are colder (or higher up in Jupiter's atmosphere). In this picture the highest "brightness temperature" is around 260K (about -13°C) and the lowest around 190K (about -83°C). The "brightness temperature" is a measurement of the radiance, at 5 µm, traveling upward from the top of the atmosphere towards Juno, expressed in units of temperature.

 (1:20)

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Jupiter's Dynamo

NASA

Опубликовано: 11 апр. 2018 г.

NASA's Juno mission has provided the first view of the dynamo, or engine, powering Jupiter's magnetic field. The new global portrait reveals unexpected irregularities and regions of surprising magnetic field intensity.

Read more: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa...

Red areas show where magnetic field lines emerge fr om the planet, while blue areas show wh ere they return. As Juno continues its mission, it will improve our understanding of Jupiter's complex magnetic environment.

 (1:00)

[zandr]

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/pia21985/jupiter-s-great-red-spot-spotted

Jupiter's Great Red Spot, Spotted

 This image of Jupiter's iconic Great Red Spot and surrounding turbulent zones was captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft.
The color-enhanced image is a combination of three separate images taken on April 1 between 3:09 a.m. PDT (6:09 a.m. EDT) and 3:24 a.m. PDT (6:24 a.m. EDT), as Juno performed its 12th close flyby of Jupiter. At the time the images were taken, the spacecraft was 15,379 miles (24,749 kilometers) to 30,633 miles (49,299 kilometers) from the tops of the clouds of the planet at a southern latitude spanning 43.2 to 62.1 degrees.
Citizen scientists Gerald Eichstädt and Seán Doran processed this image using data from the JunoCam imager.

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NASA ScienceCasts: New Science from Jupiter

ScienceAtNASA

Опубликовано: 2 мая 2018 г.

As the Juno spacecraft orbits Jupiter, new discoveries about the giant planet continue to be made.

(4:47)

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Juno and The New Jupiter: What Have We Learned So Far?

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Трансляция началась 18 часов назад

Original air date: Tuesday, May 17 at 7 p.m. PT (10 p.m. ET, 0200 UTC)

Juno is a solar-powered spacecraft which has been orbiting Jupiter since July 4, 2016. For a few hours every 53 days, Juno passes within a few thousand kilometers of the giant planet and collects a wealth of new information about Jupiter. Learn more about some of Juno's current science results on the planet's origins, interior structure, deep atmosphere, and magnetosphere, and discuss the science expected from Juno in the coming years.

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[Salo]

https://ria.ru/science/20180522/1521062891.html

Зонд Juno передал на Землю новые уникальные фотографии Юпитера
11:39 22.05.2018

© NASA / JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstäd/Seán Doran

МОСКВА, 22 мая – РИА Новости. Межпланетный зонд Juno передал на Землю новые снимки Юпитера, полученные с уникального ракурса в "естественном" цветовом диапазоне во время последнего сближения с планетой-гигантом, сообщает НАСА.Зонд Juno, летевший к Юпитеру долгие пять лет с августа 2011 года, в начале июля прошлого года сблизился с планетой-гигантом и вышел на стабильную орбиту вокруг нее. Первые два месяца после сближения зонд потратил на снижение орбиты и проверку всех научных инструментов, и первые научные данные были получены только в конце августа.
Проверка всех научных инструментов Juno и переход на новую, более удобную для ведения наблюдений орбиту должны были состояться в середине октября 2016 года, однако буквально перед началом этого маневра НАСА зафиксировало неполадки в работе двигателя, которые заставили инженеров миссии отложить его на следующее сближение с Юпитером.
Впоследствии участники миссии отказались от подобных планов на неопределенное время и начали вести наблюдения за Юпитером с "высокой" орбиты. Из-за подобных сбоев Juno сближается с Юпитером не раз в две недели, как изначально планировали ученые, а раз в 53 дня.
Последнее сближение Juno с крупнейшей планетой Солнечной системы, двенадцатое по счету, произошло в начале апреля этого года, когда зонд в очередной раз прошел на расстоянии в 17 тысяч километров от поверхности Юпитера. 
Когда зонд начал удаляться от планеты, он смог сфотографировать ее с уникального ракурса, смотря на нее "снизу", что позволило ему "передвинуть" Большое красное пятно, "вечный" ураган на экваторе Юпитера, в верхнюю часть газового гиганта. Это, как отмечают в НАСА, позволяет сравнить эту бурю с другими ураганами, бушующими у южного полюса планеты, которые можно увидеть в нижней части снимка. 
Следующее сближение Juno с Юпитером состоится очень скоро, всего через два дня. В четверг он в очередной раз пролетит через верхний слой атмосферы планеты и получит новые данные по ее структуре и химическому составу.

[tnt22]

https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/news/nasa-replans-junos-jupiter-mission

06.06.18
[SIZE=8]NASA RE-PLANS JUNO'S JUPITER MISSION[/SIZE]


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During its continued mission, NASA's Juno spacecraft will maintain its 53-day polar orbit around Jupiter. At its closest, Juno passes within 3,000 miles (5,000 kilometers) of Jupiter's cloud tops once during each 53-day orbit. At the high end of each orbit, Juno is about 5 million miles (8-million kilometers) from the planet – which is just beyond the orbit of the Jovian moon Themisto.

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA has approved an update to Juno's science operations until July 2021. This provides for an additional 41 months in orbit around Jupiter and will enable Juno to achieve its primary science objectives. Juno is in 53-day orbits rather than 14-day orbits as initially planned because of a concern about valves on the spacecraft's fuel system. This longer orbit means that it will take more time to collect the needed science data.

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An independent panel of experts confirmed in April that Juno is on track to achieve its science objectives and is already returning spectacular results.  The Juno spacecraft and all instruments are healthy and operating nominally.  

NASA has now funded Juno through FY 2022. The end of prime operations is now expected in July 2021, with data analysis and mission close-out activities continuing into 2022.

"With these funds, not only can the Juno team continue to answer long-standing questions about Jupiter that first fueled this exciting mission, but they'll also investigate new scientific puzzles motivated by their discoveries thus far," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "With every additional orbit, both scientists and citizen scientists will help unveil new surprises about this distant world."

"This is great news for planetary exploration as well as for the Juno team," said Scott Bolton, principal investigator of Juno, from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. "These updated plans for Juno will allow it to complete its primary science goals. As a bonus, the larger orbits allow us to further explore the far reaches of the Jovian magnetosphere -- the region of space dominated by Jupiter's magnetic field -- including the far magnetotail, the southern magnetosphere, and the magnetospheric boundary region called the magnetopause. We have also found Jupiter's radiation environment in this orbit to be less extreme than expected, which has been beneficial to not only our spacecraft, but our instruments and the continued quality of science data collected." 

Juno will make its 13th science flyby over Jupiter's mysterious cloud tops on July 16. 

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA's New Frontiers Program, which is managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The Italian Space Agency (ASI), contributed two instruments, a Ka-band frequency translator (KaT) and the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM). Lockheed Martin Space, Denver, built the spacecraft.

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Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 5 мин. назад

Awesome news. Edited Chris' mission extension pre-decision article with the updated news and quotes:

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/06/juno-good-health-decision-point-missions-end-extension/ ...

[tnt22]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/06/08/nasa-approves-three-year-extension-for-juno-mission-orbiting-jupiter/

NASA approves three-year extension for Juno mission orbiting Jupiter
June 8, 2018 | Stephen Clark


Artist's concept of the Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's robotic Juno spacecraft wil spend another three years probing the inside of Jupiter, giving the mission more time to meet its primary science objectives after concerns over the health of the probe's engine prevented it fr om dropping into a lower, shorter orbit around the solar system's biggest planet.

The decision by NASA managers to extend the Juno mission was expected, after a review board in April determined that the spacecraft was returning valuable science data, with all its major systems and instruments working normally.

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The exception to Juno's favorable health report is the main engine, which managers elected not to use as intended in late 2016 to maneuver the spacecraft into a lower orbit that would have taken the orbiter once around Jupiter every 14 days. Instead, officials decided to keep Juno in an elongated 53-day orbit.

The main engine successfully fired during Juno's orbit insertion burn around Jupiter on July 4, 2016, but engineers detected an issue with valves inside Juno's engine during a checkout before a follow-up burn a few months later intended to maneuver into the mission's final science orbit. Officials preferred not to risk a malfunction and canceled the engine burn, keeping Juno in its initial insertion orbit.

That decision meant Juno needed more time to gather the mission's required science data. The spacecraft's instruments collect most of their data while passing close to planet once every 53 days, not the 14-day cadence originally planned.

Scientists planned to have Juno complete 32 of the 14-day science orbits through February of this year, when its prime mission was scheduled to be over and ground controllers planned to intentionally crash the spacecraft into Jupiter's atmosphere, avoiding the possibility of contaminating one of Jupiter's potentially habitable moons.

With the longer orbit, Juno has completed 12 science flybys to date, with the 13th close-up approach scheduled for July 16. It will take an extra three years to achieve all 32 science flybys.

NASA has agreed to fund the Juno mission through fiscal year 2022, the agency announced Wednesday. Mission operations are set to end in July 2021, with continued data analysis through 2022.


Artist's illustration of the Juno spacecraft's elongated 53-day orbit around Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

"With these funds, not only can the Juno team continue to answer long-standing questions about Jupiter that first fueled this exciting mission, but they'll also investigate new scientific puzzles motivated by their discoveries thus far," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's science mission directorate in Washington. "With every additional orbit, both scientists and citizen scientists will help unveil new surprises about this distant world."

"This is great news for planetary exploration as well as for the Juno team," said Scott Bolton, principal investigator of Juno, fr om the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. "These updated plans for Juno will allow it to complete its primary science goals.

"As a bonus, the larger orbits allow us to further explore the far reaches of the Jovian magnetosphere — the region of space dominated by Jupiter's magnetic field — including the far magnetotail, the southern magnetosphere, and the magnetospheric boundary region called the magnetopause," Bolton said. "We have also found Jupiter's radiation environment in this orbit to be less extreme than expected, which has been beneficial to not only our spacecraft, but our instruments and the continued quality of science data collected."

One recent discovery by Juno showed that lightning in Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere is more common near the planet's poles, not at equatorial latitudes. On Earth, lightning in the tropics is more prevalent that at higher latitudes.

In 1979, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft detected lightning in Jupiter's atmosphere via radio signals emitted by the electrical discharges. But the radio signals picked up by Voyager 1 did not match those emitted by lightning on Earth.

"In the data from our first eight flybys, Juno's MWR (microwave radiometer) detected 377 lightning discharges," said Shannon Brown, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and lead author of a paper published Wednesday in Nature. "They were recorded in the megahertz as well as gigahertz range, which is what you can find with terrestrial lightning emissions.

"We think the reason we are the only ones who can see it is because Juno is flying closer to the lighting than ever before, and we are searching at a radio frequency that passes easily through Jupiter's ionosphere," Brown said in a statement.

Scientists think heat from the sun near Jupiter's equator warms the planet's swirling clouds just enough to inhibit convection. Most of Jupiter's heat, which drives the convection that produces lightning, is generated from within the planet, not from the sun, which delivers 25 times less energy to Jupiter than to Earth.

"Jupiter lightning distribution is inside out relative to Earth," said Brown. "There is a lot of activity near Jupiter's poles but none near the equator. You can ask anybody who lives in the tropics — this doesn't hold true for our planet."


This image of Jupiter's iconic Great Red Spot and surrounding turbulent zones was captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft. Citizen scientists Gerald Eichstädt and Seán Doran processed this image using data from the JunoCam imager captured April 1 during Juno's 12th science flyby of Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstadt/Sean Doran

Other early results from Juno suggest Jupiter's interior is more complex than previously thought, with a larger, potentially dissolved core, and bands that extend deeper into the atmosphere than predicted.

Many scientists thought Jupiter was "relatively boring and uniform" inside before Juno arrived, Bolton said in a science briefing last year.

"For decades, scientists have assumed this, that if we drop below the cloud tops, below wh ere the sunlight reaches, that pretty much Jupiter was all uniform inside, and it really didn't matter wh ere you looked, it would all look the same," Bolton said Thursday. "And what we're finding is anything but that is the truth. It's very different and very complex."

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