On Monday at 10 pm, Colombian time, after a journey of more than five years, a probe constructed by humans and driven by solar energy successfully entered orbit Jupiter after avoiding dangerous debris rings and powerful radiation belts around that planet, the most in the solar system.
stay there completing an orbit around the gas giant every 53 days until that next October 14 receive the order to descend to a lower orbit, where it will complete a rotation every 14 days. About 20 months later their electronic systems will succumb to radiation channeled by the strong magnetic fields of Jupiter and end their journey rushing to the thick clouds of ammonia and methane that hide inside the planet.
By the time the ship is destroyed by the immense pressure and temperature in the atmosphere, have completed a journey of 2,500 million kilometers, at a cost of US $ 1,100 million (about US $ 3.5 per US) and millions of hours of work hundreds of scientists, technicians and engineers at NASA’s jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL, its acronym in English) and other institutions in the United States who managed to run one of the most challenging space missions in history humanity.
The goal? Find out how among the nearly 200,000 million stars in our galaxy, our sun and solar system were formed and allowed the existence of living beings rational today wonder what place in the vastness of the universe.
of course, that question is too big to even dream that Juno can answer it, but his measurements of the composition of the atmosphere and interior of Jupiter will enable us to better understand how the solar system formed and how similar that giant planet other gaseous planets in recent years have identified around other stars.
also learn about the seas of metallic hydrogen that are hidden under the brown clouds of Jupiter and produce the strongest magnetic field of planets the solar system, approaching a little extreme magnetic conditions that exist in our galaxy and that we can hardly reproduce in small experiments that we can build on Earth or we can simulate the most powerful computers.
Juno observations even possible to assess once again the predictions of Einstein’s general relativity. They will produce maps of the composition, temperature and motion of the clouds that surround Jupiter. They reveal unprecedented details of the structure of the planet and inspire a new generation which will have the images within reach of a click with the Juno Cam- to think about the possibilities allowed by the laws of physics and huge scales of the universe. But undoubtedly the best questions that Juno can answer are those that we have not even imagined and that will undoubtedly change the way we understand the solar system.
Juno is only the second probe orbiting Jupiter, after the Galileo probe will collect observations between 1995 and 2003. His arrival marks a milestone in the history of space exploration, which only in recent years has allowed us to land on the surface of a comet (Rosetta and Philae, ESA), contemplate the surface of an asteroid (Dawn, NASA) and flying over Pluto (New Horizons, NASA). It’s just part of the beginning of the exploration of our interstellar neighborhood. But in a world overwhelmed by problems largely have produced human, is an example of what can be achieved through our own ingenuity.
All those images that will be available to the public after this mission they are captured by Juno Cam, which is sensitive to visible light telescope and traveling aboard Juno to facilitate science education programs through direct contact with citizens. Although Juno Cam survive only eight orbits before being damaged by radiation and magnetic field of Jupiter, will produce images that will be released to the public immediately. The first will be available later this month through
https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam.
* Colombian researcher of the Institute of Space Astrophysics in Orsay (France).
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