NASA's Juno Spacecraft Is Scheduled to Arrive at Jupiter on July 4




Source:  By Bryan Lufkin, Scientific American

Excerpt:  It will be the first spacecraft to probe deep below the planet’s thick cloud decks. ...the NASA orbiter will collect data that could elucidate the planet's origins and evolution, gather details about its long-lived storm (the Great Red Spot) and send back the highest-resolution color images of Jupiter to date.
Jupiter was apparently born from the leftover gas and dust of the primordial nebula that formed our sun, yet exactly how that birth occurred, or even whether the planet has a solid core, is unknown. ...the NASA team has programmed the sensor-laden Juno to measure the chemical composition of the planet's atmosphere and to map its gravitational and magnetic fields. The craft's microwave radiometer will also “see” about 550 kilometers below the clouds covering Jupiter's surface.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa-s-juno-spacecraft-is-scheduled-to-arrive-at-jupiter-on-july-4/

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