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Steve Levin Juno Project Scientist April 1, 2016

The Juno mission aims to improve our understanding of giant planet formation by studying Jupiter's composition, interior structure, atmosphere, and magnetosphere. Juno will orbit Jupiter's poles and use its eight science instruments, including a gravity science experiment, magnetometer, and microwave radiometer to map Jupiter's gravitational and magnetic fields and probe the deep atmosphere. The mission seeks to determine Jupiter's water abundance and core mass to understand its origin, and characterize its polar magnetosphere and auroras. Juno launched in 2011 and arrived at Jupiter in 2016 to begin a 16-month science mission orbiting the planet.

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76 views22 pages

Steve Levin Juno Project Scientist April 1, 2016

The Juno mission aims to improve our understanding of giant planet formation by studying Jupiter's composition, interior structure, atmosphere, and magnetosphere. Juno will orbit Jupiter's poles and use its eight science instruments, including a gravity science experiment, magnetometer, and microwave radiometer to map Jupiter's gravitational and magnetic fields and probe the deep atmosphere. The mission seeks to determine Jupiter's water abundance and core mass to understand its origin, and characterize its polar magnetosphere and auroras. Juno launched in 2011 and arrived at Jupiter in 2016 to begin a 16-month science mission orbiting the planet.

Uploaded by

Angel Pintuan
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Juno

Steve Levin
Juno Project Scientist
April 1, 2016
Why Jupiter is so Important
• It’s the largest planet.

• Probably formed first.

• Is very much like the Sun in composition.

• We lost Earth’s history, but not Jupiter’s.


Juno Mission Overview
Salient Features:
• First solar-powered mission to Jupiter
• Eight science instruments to conduct gravity,
magnetic and atmospheric investigations, plus a
camera for education and public outreach
• Spinning, polar orbiter spacecraft launched on
August 5, 2011
– 5-year cruise to Jupiter, arriving July 4, 2016
– 16 months of science at Jupiter, ending by
diving into Jupiter in February 2018
• Elliptical 14-day orbit swings below radiation
belts to minimize radiation exposure
• 2nd mission in NASA’s New Frontiers Program

Science Objective: Improve our understanding of


giant planet formation and evolution by studying
Jupiter’s origin, interior structure, atmospheric
composition and dynamics, and magnetosphere

Principal Investigator: Scott Bolton


Southwest Research Institute
Juno’s Flight Plan, or Trajectory
• A five-year trek that loops
once around the inner solar
system before heading for
Jupiter
• Why does it take so long to
get there?
• Direct path would have
required a much more
powerful launch vehicle
• Using Earth’s gravity for
a boost makes the trip
longer, but saves a lot of
rocket cost!
Why Juno?
Jupiter is by far the largest • How did Jupiter form?
planet in the solar system, • How is the planet arranged on the inside?
and we’ve been studying it for • Is there a dense core, and if so, how large is it?
hundreds of years. Yet we still • How is its vast magnetic field generated?
have major unanswered
• How are atmospheric features related to the
questions about this giant
movement of the deep interior?
planet…
• What are the physical processes that power the
auroras?
• What do the poles look like?
Jupiter’s Temperature

1000+ K (bottom) to 110 K (top)

10,000 K

30,000 K

• Jupiter retains heat from its formation 4.5 B years ago


• It is slowly cooling as heat is transported outwards
• The atmosphere cools predictably with altitude (like the
Earth)
Probing Deep and Globally

Microwave radiometry - Magnetic field - Grav


field
Water  Oxygen
Water is key to understanding the formation of Jupiter.
Juno Science
Juno Science Objectives
Origin
Determine the abundance of water and
place an upper limit on the mass of
Jupiter’s dense core to decide which
theory of the planet’s origin is correct
Interior Juno Instruments
Understand Jupiter’s interior structure **** Gravity Science (JPL, ASI)
and how material moves deep within the
planet by mapping its gravitational and **** Magnetometer— MAG (GSFC)
magnetic fields **** Microwave Radiometer— MWR (JPL)
**** Jupiter Energetic Particle Detector— JEDI (APL)
Atmosphere **** Jovian Auroral Distributions Exp.— JADE (SwRI)
Map variations in atmospheric **** Plasma Waves Instrument— Waves (U of Iowa)
composition, temperature, cloud opacity
and dynamics to depths greater than 100 **** UV Spectrometer— UVS (SwRI)
bars at all latitudes **** Infrared Camera— JIRAM (ASI)
**** Visible Camera— JunoCam (Malin)
Magnetosphere
Characterize and explore the three-
dimensional structure of Jupiter's polar
magnetosphere and auroras.
Spacecraft & Payload

SPACECRAFT DIMENSIONS
JunoCam Diameter: 66 feet (20 meters)
Height: 15 feet (4.5 meters)
UVS

Waves
(2 detectors)

JEDI
JIRAM (6 sensors )

JADE
(4 sensors )
Gravity Science
(2 sensors)
Magnetometer
(2 sensors, 4 support cameras)

MWR
(6 sensors )
Microwave Radiometer (MWR) Experiment

The microwave antennas


are distributed around
the spacecraft and view
perpendicular to the
spacecraft spin axis

off-nadir
view emission
 angle

nadir view

120° Field of A6: horn


View

Along-track scanning

A3 - A5: slot
arrays
A1: patch array A2: patch array
Sensing the deep atmosphere
Juno’s Microwave Radiometer
measures thermal radiation from
the atmosphere to as deep as
1000 atmospheres pressure
(~500-600 km below the visible
cloud tops).

Determines water and ammonia


abundances in the atmosphere
all over the planet

Synchrotron radio emission from the radiation belts makes this kind
of measurement impossible from far away on Earth
Mapping Jupiter’s gravity
Tracking changes in Juno’s
velocity reveals Jupiter’s
gravity (and how the planet
is arranged on the inside).

Precise Doppler measurements of


spacecraft motion reveal the gravity
field.

Tides provide further clues.


Atmospheric Dynamics

Radiometry
investigates
atmospheric
structure

Gravity
investigates
differential
rotation

15
Mapping Jupiter’s magnetic field
Jupiter’s magnetic field lets us probe deep
inside the planet.

Juno’s polar orbit provides complete


mapping of planet’s powerful
magnetic field.
Exploring the Polar Magnetosphere
Jupiter’s magnetosphere near the planet’s poles is a completely
unexplored region!

Juno’s investigation will provide new insights


about how the planet’s enormous magnetic
force field generates the aurora.

17
“Science In A Fishbowl”

http://missionjuno.swri.edu click on “Junocam”


18
The Juno/DSN-GAVRT Connection
Education and Science
• Students contribute to Juno science
- Modeling the radiation environment
- Providing context for Microwave Radiometer data
• Juno science lessons (in and out of the classroom)
• Juno scientists participate in GAVRT teacher training
• Juno scientists in the (GAVRT) classroom
• Future plans (Junocam)

Spacecraft tracks
Fly along with Juno
Juno is part of NASA’s 3D interactive, Eyes on the Solar System…

solarsystem.nasa.gov/eyes
For more information...

Ask me questions!
Juno mission website:
missionjuno.swri.edu

On the NASA website:


www.nasa.gov/juno

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