#WHERE TO WATCH JUNO TV#

This will be done directly be measuring it in a variety of wavelengths of light but also through measuring the magnetic field. One of the coolest things we will learn is what the structure of Jupiter is like, hidden beneath the cloud layers. We can learn about where it formed, and whether it has migrated in towards the sun and back out again as some models suggest (testable by measuring the water content of the planet). Juno will help us explore the origins of the gas giant, if it formed all at once from a collapsing gas cloud that gave birth to our sun or whether it instead grew around a rocky core 10 times bigger than Earth. NASA has eyes on Juno as it makes its approach to Jupiter. This is because its gravity has diverted asteroids and comets away from us (potentially getting hit itself!) but sometimes it throws these into our direction to the detriment of species on Earth at that point!

We now know that Jupiter is a gas giant and the largest planet in the solar system and one of the major influences in forming the other planets and potentially life itself.

We've come a long way since Galileo turned a telescope to Jupiter and revealed that this point of light actually had, what we since have named, the Galilean Moons. Even so, after the planned 37 orbits Juno will have received the equivalent of 100 million dental X-rays - meaning the fragile electronics have to be protected within a titanium vault. If Juno doesn't 'duck' below this radiation it will potentially fry the electronics of the craft. Similar to Earth's Van Allen Belt this is a donut shaped region around Jupiter's equator but a million times greater. The real issues are that the orbit aims to pass just 5000km above the surface of the cloud tops (akin to skimming just 8mm off the surface of a basketball) allowing an unrivalled close-up view of the planet but also ducking behind the deadly radiation belts around the equator. Having the entire craft spinning stabilises it much like a bullet spiralling keeps it on target. It is fortunate it's predictable because the entire Orbital Insertion is on autopilot because the time delay is so long our commands would be obsolete by the time we reached it. Our mathematical models are so advanced that we were pretty confident of getting that nearly perfect. This is like hitting the bullseye of a dartboard with a dart thrown from one side of a city to the other. Too slow and you'd crash into the clouds or too fast and you'd bounce off into space. A 2.8 billion kilometre journey had only a 20km wide 'window' to slow down and thread through.

#WHERE TO WATCH JUNO TV#

Watching live on NASA TV is a strange experience as we know that the signal from Juno takes 48 minutes to reach us, so 'live' in this sense is sharing an experience of something that actually happened nearly an hour before. It is one of the most inspirational things we do, writes Alan Duffy.ДЇamously in space nobody can hear you scream, but if Juno's five-year journey to Jupiter had missed the orbital window then NASA JPL's collective scream would have tested that idea. Space exploration is insanely difficult at the best of times, and the five-year journey of the Juno spacecraft is pushing things even further.

Where to watch juno