NASA's Juno snaps its 1st picture of Jupiter and its moons

[n2doc]

ASA's Juno spacecraft has sent its first photograph of Jupiter back to Earth.

The high-resolution image, taken by the craft's JunoCam, shows Jupiter and its four largest moons – Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. It was taken at a distance of 10.9 million kilometres from the planet. The photo also captures the alternating light and dark bands of Jupiter's clouds.

Unlike previous spacecraft, which approached Jupiter close to the planet's equator, Juno is coming toward the planet from a higher altitude, over the planet's north pole. This provides images from a unique perspective.

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http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/jupiter-juno-picture-1.3656324

[stonecutter357]

1. K&R!

[PJMcK]

2. What a photograph!

How cool would it be to see that view in person? Thanks for posting this, n2doc!

The Juno mission is fascinating and the data collected will be enormously educating about our fellow planet.

There are a couple of interesting twists in this article. First, Juno will be in an inclined orbit. Is it possible to orbit a planet in a polar orbit rather than an equatorial one? Also, do orbits have to be in the same direction as a planet's rotation?

Second, Juno is scheduled to arrive at Jupiter on July 4th. The mission will end in February 2018 after making 33 orbits in about 19 months. Those orbits are pretty big and take a couple of weeks apiece! By contrast, the International Space Station orbits earth in under two hours, 15.54 (!) times a day.

Third, this paragraph is fascinating and, frankly, wonderfully ethical and smart scientifically on the part of NASA:

Upon the mission's completion, Juno will plunge into Jupiter's atmosphere, where NASA says "it will burn up like a meteor." Destroying Juno protects Jupiter's possibly habitable moons from potential contamination by microbes from Earth that could have hitched a ride aboard the craft.

This Jovian show is going to be great!

[localroger]

3. From that distance

...if you were riding along with the spaceship, to your unaided eyes Jupiter itself would appear about the same size the Moon does from Earth.

[Uncle Joe]

4. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, n2doc.