Fran Bagenal- NASA’s Juno Mission to Jupiter

NASA’s JUNO mission was launched in August 2011 and has been in orbit over Jupiter’s poles since 4th July 2016, its mission to understand the origin and evolution of the planet.

Underneath its dense cloud cover, Jupiter safeguards secrets to the fundamental processes and conditions that governed our solar system during its formation. As our primary example of a giant planet, Jupiter can also provide critical knowledge for understanding the planetary systems being discovered around other stars. JUNO has a suite of science instruments to investigate Jupiter’s interior structure, mapping the intense magnetic field, measure the distribution of water and ammonia in the deep atmosphere, also exploring the mysterious Great Red Spot.  As its orbit has evolved, the spacecraft has also made flybys of the Galilean moons Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto.

JUNO is also the first spacecraft to fly over Jupiter’s aurora and measure the energetic particles raining down on the planet and the bright “northern & southern lights” they excite.

A huge bonus is the small public outreach camera that takes fantastic images of Jupiter’s beautiful clouds.  The images – some science, some art – are processed and shared by the public worldwide.

Note: Fran will be presenting her talk remotely from Colorado over Zoom