NASA spacecraft will reach Jupiter on July 4 – THE DEBATE

LOS ANGELES A NASA probe goes to his encounter with Jupiter on July 4 at the latest to study how it formed and evolved the solar system’s largest planet space mission.

as you approach the harsh radiation environment of Jupiter, the Juno spacecraft will fire its main engine to slow down and go into orbit around the planet.

“it’s a maneuver one chance” , the head of the mission, the scientist Scott Bolton, of Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas said Thursday. “Everything depends on it.”

If the mission goes according to schedule, Juno will orbit Jupiter’s poles for almost a year and will peek through the clouds to investigate the auroras of the planet, considered . the most intense solar system

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“. Jupiter is a planet with steroids All of it is extreme,” said Bolton <. / p>

Since the 1970s, various space probes that have orbited Jupiter or sent long past amazing panoramic views of the Great Red Spot storm-a distinctive incessant planet and its numerous moons.

the largest study corresponds to the Galileo probe, which in turn launched another probe to the surface. Galileo explored Jupiter and its satellites for 14 years.

Unlike Earth, a rocky planet, Jupiter is a giant composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. Scientists do not know yet whether Jupiter has a solid core, as well as the amounts of oxygen and water on the planet, information that could help unravel how it was that the Earth and the solar system reached its current state.

Juno’s journey to Jupiter -the fifth planet from the Sun-took almost five years; the ship made an elliptical journey through the inner solar system and used the gravity of Earth to gain momentum into deep space.

The missions before Jupiter used sources of nuclear power because of the enormous distance that would separate the probes del Sol. Juno is solar powered. Has special panels that are oriented toward the sun most of the mission.

Juno is at a distance of 800 million kilometers (500 million miles) from the Sun the evening of July 4, when preparing to enter orbit.

Juno instruments are inside a titanium vault so that they are protected from radiation. The spacecraft also carries a camera and scientists said the public will have the opportunity to decide what pictures to take.

When Juno complete its mission in 2018, will fall and will burn in the atmosphere of Jupiter. Scientists planned to this end for the probe to eliminate the possibility that it might crash into Europa, one of Jupiter’s satellites containing water

With information. AP