Juno on Track for its Earth Flyby later this Year
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April 12, 2013
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Image: NASA/JPL/Caltech
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NASA’s Juno Mission is on track and progressing nominally as the quiet Inner Cruise 2 Mission Phase continues. Activities are still calm while the vehicle coasts through the Solar System, but later this year, activities will ramp up again when Juno approaches its gravity assist flyby of Earth that will occur on October 9.
Juno had a very quiet start of 2013 as it coasted through the outer solar system. After reaching Aphelion at 2.26 Astronomical Units, Juno was inbound again to set the stage for the Earth Flyby. While flying outside the orbit of Mars, Juno performed two Deep Space Maneuvers on August 30 and September 14 followed by a small clean-up maneuver on October 3, 2013 that fine-tuned the vehicle’s trajectory back to Earth. Juno’s instruments (except the Advanced Stellar Compass) were turned off for the maneuvers. After the two burns, Juno's instruments were activated once again to complete a new round of instrument health checks as part of nominal cruise operations. All instruments checked out as planned and Juno went back to quiet cruising mode with JEDI, MWR, Waves, and MAG being the only active instruments. |
Over the course of the last three months, the Juno team continued planning activities in advance of the gravity assist which will serve as a rehearsal of a full cycle of integrated spacecraft operations to learn about mission execution in preparation for smooth operations once reaching Jupiter. Also for the Flyby, more instruments will be turned on to acquire science data from Earth's environment, both, for calibrations and to support other studies. An additional benefit of the Flyby is to give mission controllers the opportunity to practice operating the instruments and the spacecraft in general in preparation for the science mission.
The Earth flyby will boost Juno’s velocity by 7.3 Kilometer per second, modifying its orbit in a way that takes the vehicle's aphelion outside Jupiter's Orbit crossing its orbit at the correct time and place to intercept the planet.
Juno is currently still cruising outside the Orbit of Mars which it will cross again on April 17. The Inner Cruise 2 phase will transition to Inner Cruise 3 at L+661 Days – May 28, 2013. IC2 has a duration of 598 Days and started back on October 11, 2011 while IC3 is shorter with 161 Days, but it is more intense as it features the flyby and associated maneuvers.
The Earth flyby will boost Juno’s velocity by 7.3 Kilometer per second, modifying its orbit in a way that takes the vehicle's aphelion outside Jupiter's Orbit crossing its orbit at the correct time and place to intercept the planet.
Juno is currently still cruising outside the Orbit of Mars which it will cross again on April 17. The Inner Cruise 2 phase will transition to Inner Cruise 3 at L+661 Days – May 28, 2013. IC2 has a duration of 598 Days and started back on October 11, 2011 while IC3 is shorter with 161 Days, but it is more intense as it features the flyby and associated maneuvers.
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As of 9:00 UTC on April 12, 2013, Juno has covered a total distance of 1.103 Billion Kilometers (0.68537 Billion Miles) of its 2.830-Billion-Kilometer journey to Jupiter (1.760 Billion Miles).
In astronomical terms, Juno has covered 7.37 of 18.92 AU. Juno is currently 95.1 Million Kilometers (59.1 Million Miles) from Earth traveling at a relative velocity of 52,000kph (32,311mph). The current communications delay (One-Way Light Time) is 5 minutes and 17 seconds. Distance to the Sun is currently 1.633 Astronomical Units (244.3M Kilometers, 151.8M Miles). Relative velocity to the Sun is 82,071kph (50,997mph). April 12, 2013 marks day 615 of the Juno Mission and Day 555 of the Inner Cruise 2 Mission Phase. The next Mission Phase Transition takes place in 46 days. |
Juno - Current Position
Image: NASA JPL - Solar System Simulator
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Juno - Current Position (January 6, 2013)
Image: NASA JPL - Solar System Simulator
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