Tag: SWRI
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NASA’s Juno spacecraft to remain in current orbit around Jupiter
Artist’s concept of the Juno spacecraft at Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Concerns about the health of the Juno spacecraft’s main engine have compelled NASA managers to keep the research probe in its current arcing, high-altitude orbit around Jupiter, a decision that will delay the full science return from the $1.1 billion mission but should still allow…
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Juno dives over Jupiter’s cloud tops with main engine still offline
Updated at 3:30 p.m. EST with additional comments from Scott Bolton. This amateur-processed image was taken on Dec. 11, 2016, at 9:27 a.m. PST (12:27 p.m. EST), as NASA’s Juno spacecraft performed its third close flyby of Jupiter. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Eric Jorgensen NASA’s Juno spacecraft made a high-speed pass less than 3,000 miles over Jupiter’s turbulent…
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Study shows Pluto should be counted among solar system’s ocean worlds
The expanse of Sputnik Planitia, the bright region visible in this image of Pluto, might cover an ocean of slushy water-ice. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI Scientists believe they can explain how an ocean of water is lurking beneath an ice sheet inside Pluto’s prominent heart-shaped region, an iconic frozen landscape discovered during the New Horizons spacecraft’s flyby…
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Juno recovers from reboot, but propulsion problem lingers
Artist’s concept of the Juno spacecraft at Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s Juno spacecraft will stay in its current long-period orbit around Jupiter until at least February, and perhaps longer, as engineers study balky valves inside the science probe’s propulsion system and an unexpected computer reboot that interrupted key functions of the orbiter earlier this month.…
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Mission managers keeping Juno in elongated orbit until December
Artist’s concept of the solar-powered Juno spacecraft at Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Ground teams are buying more time to study two sluggish valves inside the Juno spacecraft’s fuel pressurization system and postponing a major engine burn that was scheduled for next week to reshape the probe’s orbit around Jupiter, officials said Friday. The rocket burn was…
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Juno gets its closest look at Jupiter
Updated with details from NASA press release. Jupiter’s north polar region is coming into view as NASA’s Juno spacecraft approaches the giant planet. This view of Jupiter was taken on August 27, when Juno was 437,000 miles (703,000 kilometers) away.Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS Nearly two months after NASA’s Juno spacecraft slipped into orbit around Jupiter, the solar-powered…
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Researchers eager for Juno’s first chance for Jupiter science
Animation of Juno 14-day Orbits Starting in late 2016. Juno is currently in an even larger 53-day orbit. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s Juno spacecraft fine-tuned its orbit around Jupiter this week, helping steer the spinning space probe on a course to dip beneath the giant planet’s radiation belts in late August for the first time with…
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Juno spacecraft braves the unknown at Jupiter to enter orbit
NASA’s Juno spacecraft, spinning once every 12 seconds for stability, fired its main engine for more than 35 minutes Monday to brake into orbit around Jupiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Setting up post at the king of planets, NASA’s Juno spacecraft fired its main engine for 35 minutes Monday, steering into orbit around Jupiter to peer inside…
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Live coverage: NASA’s Juno spacecraft arrives at Jupiter
Live coverage of NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
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Scientists on edge awaiting Juno’s perilous encounter with Jupiter
This artist’s concept shows Juno’s approach path toward Jupiter for the July 4 insertion maneuver. Jupiter’s intense radiation belts are also illustrated here. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Speeding toward Jupiter at nearly 40 miles per second, NASA’s Juno spacecraft must brave a field of computer-zapping radiation and Jupiter’s tenuous ring of ice and dust particles when it…