NASA launches Jupiter probe
August 5th, 2011 - 7:51 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattFlorida, Aug 5 (THAINDIAN NEWS) NASA will on Friday launch a spacecraft in a mission to unravel the mystery of Jupiter. The spacecraft which is dubbed Juno is expected to reach Jupiter in 2016.
Juno project manager from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Jan Chodas, announced that, “Our next move will be much farther - about 1,740 million miles [2,800 million kilometers] to Jupiter. The rollout completes Juno’s journey on Earth, and now we’re excited to be taking our first step into space.”
Scientists say the spacecraft will reach the orbit of earth after eleven minutes of its launch. The craft will stay temporary on earth’s orbit for sometime before starting on its journey to Jupiter about 30 minutes later. That phase will start with a nine-minute burn of the rocket. After that it will take five years for Juno to get to its final destination where NASA hopes to collect data that will help them understand the largest planet in the solar system.
Juno will be going into space with some artifacts. On board will be three figurines and a plaque which is dedicated to the famous astronomer Galileo Galilei.
It was Galileo who first detected that Jupiter had moons orbiting around it. He made the discovery in 1610.
- NASA launches 2.7 bn-km voyage to Jupiter - Aug 06, 2011
- NASA to probe Jupiter's stormy clouds - Jul 31, 2011
- NASA craft prepares for Valentine's Day date with comet - Jan 20, 2011
- Space probe reaches asteroid after four-year journey - Jul 18, 2011
- How sunlight powers free-flying satellites through interplanetary space - Feb 04, 2011
- NASA's Mars Orbiter completes 5-yr mark - Mar 10, 2011
- Water found on Jupiter moon - Nov 17, 2011
- NASA's Odyssey spacecraft sets exploration record on Mars - Dec 16, 2010
- NASA's Stardust adjusts time for encounter with comet - Feb 19, 2010
- Fuel-free space tethers to manoeuvre spacecraft in orbit - Sep 04, 2010
- NASA's MESSENGER begins historic orbit around Mercury - Mar 18, 2011
- Asteroid with potential power of 15 atomic bombs to pass moon's orbit tonight - Apr 15, 2011
- NASA to explore possibility of beamed energy propulsion for space launch - Jan 26, 2011
- NASA spacecraft closing in on huge asteroid Vesta - May 04, 2011
- India's tryst with Mars begins in November 2013 (Lead) - Sep 18, 2012
Tags: artifacts, astronomer galileo, eleven minutes, famous astronomer, figurines, final destination, jet propulsion laboratory, juno, jupiter probe, kilometers, launch, million miles, moons, nasa, orbit, plaque, rollout, solar system, space scientists, spacecraft