Juno Probe Now on Autopilot Ahead of July 4 Jupiter Arrival

[Night Watchman]

Source: Space.com

By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | July 1, 2016 12:24am ET



NASA's Juno spacecraft is now flying solo ahead of its highly anticipated July 4 entry into Jupiter orbit.

On Thursday afternoon (June 30), Juno's handlers sent a command to the spacecraft known as "ji4040," which is designed to transition the probe into autopilot mode, NASA officials said.

"Ji4040 contains the command that starts the Jupiter orbit insertion sequence," Juno mission manager Ed Hirst, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a statement. "After the sequence executes, Juno is on autopilot. But that doesn't mean we get to go home. We are monitoring the spacecraft's activities 24/7 and will do so until well after we are in orbit."

The major element of the Jupiter orbit insertion (JOI) sequence is a 35-minute engine burn, which Juno is scheduled to perform on Monday night (July 4). This burn should slow the spacecraft down enough to be captured by Jupiter's powerful gravity.

Read more: http://www.space.com/33326-nasa-juno-jupiter-probe-autopilot.html

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1. Yes, I'm a total nerd.
2. A reminder that our country can still actually do things.

[Rhiannon12866]

1. K&R! This is fascinating! Thanks for posting!

I remember the days when we'd hear about our efforts at space exploration on the news - these days, I'm fortunate to have DU!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

2. Orbiting for REAL exploration as opposed to a flyby.

[longship]

3. And there is nothing they can do if the JOI goes wrong.

The transmission delay is too long. By the time ground controllers find out, it will be too late to correct it. If they get at least a 20 minute burn, they may have a saving throw, however.

R&K

[NeoGreen]

5. I always understood that a...

...natural 20 was an automatic save.

[kentauros]

10. Just don't roll that on a 30-sided die

[Night Watchman]

6. Thanks for the Cold Water!

Last edited Fri Jul 1, 2016, 08:14 AM - Edit history (1)

Have you no faith in American technology? That's one of the things I'm proudest of!

(Edited to correct grammar.)

[longship]

7. Well, I am just relating what the ground crew are saying.

They say that Curiosity's seven minutes of terror are nothing compared to this.

Kind of makes it more exciting, don't you think?

My best to you.

[Ghost Dog]

12. Not sure. Do you still measure distances out there

in nautical miles, fathoms, feet and inches, or has the US now gone metric in space?

[edbermac]

4. "Space...the final frontier..."

"Fascinating!"

[Just reading posts]

11. In that shot, Mr. Spock is using a B-1 Flight Computer....essentially, a slide ruler which was

designed to allow pilots to calculate such things as fuel burn, wind correction, time en route, and ground speed.

[Frank Cannon]

15. Nice.

I'm investing in the Jeppesen company, since it looks like they'll not only be around in the 23rd century, but they'll have a government contract with Star Fleet.

[leftynyc]

8. Thank Heavens for nerds like you

It's only because of nerds that we know ANYTHING about the universe. Thanks for posting this story - it's fascinating. This may be a stupid question, but I'm going to ask anyway. What if the burn doesn't work - what will happen to the craft? Will it burn up or just shoot off into space and if that's the case, can it be tried again?

[Night Watchman]

13. I think NASA has only One Shot at This

I could be wrong, but ballistics usually works that way, especially at such a distance from Earth.

[Princess Turandot]

9. NASA will begin covering the orbit insertion...

at 10:30PM EDT on July 5. You can view their programming on the website, on the NASA TV youtube channel (which is different than their NASA youtube channel) or on television, if your provider carries them.

I haven't read whether it'll be sending back any imagery immediately post orbit insertion, or if they only will be getting telemetry data. (The imaging system was temporarily turned off as non-essential a few days ago.) The one way transmission time is ~ 45 minutes: less nail-biting than New Horizons' 4 hour delay.

And good news regarding New Horizons: they got the go ahead today for the mission extension, to survey another Kuiper Belt Object via a fly-by in early 2019.

[Baclava]

16. Yes - New Horizons lives on! - 'Pluto spacecraft gets new mission'

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft – has received the nod to fly onward to an object deeper in the Kuiper Belt, known as 2014 MU69. This object had not even been discovered when New Horizons was launched in 2006.

The spacecraft will rendezvous with 2014 MU69 on January 1, 2019.

http://earthsky.org/space/pluto-spacecraft-gets-new-mission-mu69

Ice volcanoe's and Blue sky on Pluto? We want more pics!

[whistler162]

14. Just so long as it isn't a Tesla autopilot!