NASA's Juno Spacecraft Sends First In-orbit View

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NASA's Juno Spacecraft Sends First In-orbit View
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
July 12, 2016

[Image]

The JunoCam camera aboard NASA's Juno mission is operational and sending
down data after the spacecraft's July 4 arrival at Jupiter. Juno's visible-light
camera was turned on six days after Juno fired its main engine and placed
itself into orbit around the largest planetary inhabitant of our solar
system. The first high-resolution images of the gas giant Jupiter are
still a few weeks away.

"This scene from JunoCam indicates it survived its first pass through
Jupiter's extreme radiation environment without any degradation and is
ready to take on Jupiter," said Scott Bolton, principal investigator from
the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. "We can't wait to see
the first view of Jupiter's poles."

The new view was obtained on July 10, 2016, at 10:30 a.m. PDT (1:30 p.m.
EDT, 5:30 UTC), when the spacecraft was 2.7 million miles (4.3 million
kilometers) from Jupiter on the outbound leg of its initial 53.5-day capture
orbit. The color image shows atmospheric features on Jupiter, including
the famous Great Red Spot, and three of the massive planet's four largest
moons -- Io, Europa and Ganymede, from left to right in the image.

"JunoCam will continue to take images as we go around in this first orbit,"
said Candy Hansen, Juno co-investigator from the Planetary Science Institute,
Tucson, Arizona. "The first high-resolution images of the planet will
be taken on August 27 when Juno makes its next close pass to Jupiter."

JunoCam is a color, visible-light camera designed to capture remarkable
pictures of Jupiter's poles and cloud tops. As Juno's eyes, it will provide
a wide view, helping to provide context for the spacecraft's other instruments.
JunoCam was included on the spacecraft specifically for purposes of public
engagement; although its images will be helpful to the science team, it
is not considered one of the mission's science instruments.

The Juno team is currently working to place all images taken by JunoCam
on the mission's website, where the public can access them.

During its mission of exploration, Juno will circle the Jovian world 37
times, soaring low over the planet's cloud tops -- as close as about 2,600
miles (4,100 kilometers). During these flybys, Juno will probe beneath
the obscuring cloud cover of Jupiter and study its auroras to learn more
about the planet's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere.

JPL manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton,
of Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA's
New Frontiers Program, which is managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight
Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.
Michael Ravine of Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, is the JunoCam
instrument lead. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft.
Caltech in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA.

To see a full video of Jupiter and the Galilean moons during Juno's approach
to Jupiter, visit:

https://youtu.be/XpsQimYhNkA

More information on the Juno mission is available at:

http://www.nasa.gov/juno

The public can follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at:

http://www.facebook.com/NASAJuno

http://www.twitter.com/NASAJuno


News Media Contact

DC Agle / Preston Dyches
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011 / 818-354-7013
david....@jpl.nasa.gov / preston...@jpl.nasa.gov

Dwayne Brown / Laurie Cantillo
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726 / 202-358-1077
dwayne....@nasa.gov / laura.l....@nasa.gov

2016-185