NASA’s Dangerous Juno Mission Will Soon Try to Reach 3,000 Miles from Jupiter’s Cloudtops Without Being Destroyed

“The scariest thing to me are the unknowns. So much about the Jupiter environment we will have to withstand is unknown. Nothing is certain about what's going to happen.”

- Planetary Scientist, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California

“Juno is only about one third the way through its primary mission, and already we are seeing the beginnings of a new Jupiter. 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.”

- Scott Bolton, Ph.D., Juno Principal Investigator, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX

March 17, 2018 Pasadena, California - In less than four months, NASA/JPL's Juno spacecraft will try the closest approach of any Earth machine so far with the goal to penetrate the giant planet's radiation belts. Scientists are now trying to keep up with Juno's data stream as it approaches the strongest gravity and magnetic fields in our solar system. July 4th, 2018, will be a big unknown. Will Juno be able to enter orbit around the biggest gas planet in our solar system without being destroyed after seven and a half years to get there (August 5, 2011-July 4, 2018)? Scientists in charge of this unique effort are actually afraid of what could happen when Juno tries to get to 3,000 miles from Jupiter's cloudtops.