place is fraught with danger and the engineers and scientist working on space missions demand to anticipate them and be able to take with many complex billet . NASA ’s Juno recently had to acquit a propulsive tactical maneuver to convert its orbital velocity by 203 kilometers ( 126 miles ) per hour .
This was hold necessary as the spacecraft was risking death by eclipse . Now , this is an strange cause of death even for blank space standards . We have smashed probes into planets by accident and on aim , and even just plainly lose them , but the eclipse is singular . The issue is that Jupiter is huge and Juno is solar - power . Not an idealistic jazz band in certain circumstances .
And on November 3 , the craft was going to pass through Jupiter ’s shadow for 12 hours . That ’s long enough for Juno ’s battery to be totally drain . With no power and in the cold of blank space , the craft was unlikely to survive . For this reason , between September 30 and October 1 , NASA burned 73 kg ( 160 pound ) of fuel to transmit out a 10.5 - minute propellent tactical maneuver . This is five time farseeing than any late usage of the reaction - control thruster .
" With the success of this suntan , we are on track to jump the shadow on Nov. 3 , " Scott Bolton , Juno primary investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio , said in astatement . " leap over the shadow was an amazingly creative solution to what seemed like a fatal geometry . Eclipses are by and large not friends of solar - powered space vehicle . Now or else of worrying about freezing to expiry , I am face forwards to the next science discovery that Jupiter has in shop for Juno . "
Junoarrived at Jupiter in 2016 . It performs a close flyby every 53 days with the next one happening on November 3 . It will be its 23rdclose flyby , taking it to an altitude of just 4,200 kilometers ( 2,600 miles ) from the clouds of Jupiter . The missionary work has collected unbelievable data about the gas giant satellite while also capture breathtaking views . In June 2018 , the missionary work was extended for another three years .
" Pre - launch mission planning did not anticipate a lengthy occultation that would plunge our solar - powered ballistic capsule into darkness , " explained Ed Hirst , Juno project manager at NASA ’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena , California . " That we could plan and execute the necessary maneuver while operating in Jupiter ’s orbit is a will to the ingenuity and skill of our squad , along with the extraordinary capability and versatility of our space vehicle . "
There are now 35 planned flybys , with the last one go down to be on July 30 , 2021 . At that decimal point , the craft will indeed be deadened but in fire not in ice-skating rink . The craft will be plunged into Jupiter to void any potential contamination of the Jovian system .
