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NASA's Juno mission is about to make one final push to enter Jupiter's orbit on July 4th, where scientists will hunt for clue to the formation of our solar system.
This artist's rendering provided by NASA and JPL-Caltech shows the Juno spacecraft above the planet Jupiter.(Photo: AP)
NASA's 5-year-old mission to slip a satellite into orbit around Jupiter hangs in the balance despite great excitement at NASA for the scheduled entry late Monday.
"We’ve done everything we can.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>We’ve protected everything as best we can,"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said Scott Bolton, principal investigator of the Juno mission.
The main concern: Unknown factors surrounding radiation and space debris could affect the $1 billion<span style="color: Red;">*</span>spacecraft and its<span style="color: Red;">*</span>trajectory.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"We’ve modeled it, but we’re going into unknown territory," Bolton added.
It all comes down to the wire when the satellite attempts to enter orbit from the north pole of Jupiter at 10:30 p.m. ET.
In its two-hour pass from pole to pole, Juno will encounter massive<span style="color: Red;">*</span>amounts of radiation, even as it avoids<span style="color: Red;">*</span>some of the worst the planet has to offer.
Juno's most sensitive electronics are protected with a titanium covering that prevents damage from electrons moving at the speed of light that could tear through the satellite, said Heidi Becker, a scientist working on the mission.
Debris from Jupiter's rings
poses a threat<span style="color: Red;">*</span>because<span style="color: Red;">*</span>even small bits of rock<span style="color: Red;">*</span>can cause serious damage to the spacecraft, Bolton said. Plus, the size of the debris remains uncertain.
"We believe probability is incredibly low that we’re going to hit one, but it’s not zero," said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Bolton.
The solar-powered<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Juno spacecraft<span style="color: Red;">*</span>must fire its main engines to enter<span style="color: Red;">*</span>orbit successfully while on battery power. The satellite<span style="color: Red;">*</span>will then need to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>turn<span style="color: Red;">*</span>back to face the sun after the first pass around the planet in order to keep receiving solar radiation.
Juno launched in August 2011 and will stay in orbit until February 2018.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>If the mission is successful,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>researchers at NASA hope the data<span style="color: Red;">*</span>can provide insight into some of the greatest unknowns about the solar system's formation.
"This is it.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>This is<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the beast we’re going after, and we're going to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>conquer that thing tonight, and we're going to get the answers we're all seeking about the beginning of our solar system," Bolton said.
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