GET ready for the big one. NASA鈥檚 Juno spacecraft is due to arrive at Jupiter on 4 July. It is the first dedicated explorer of the gas giant in over a decade.
Juno has spent five years travelling to Jupiter, and will orbit the planet鈥檚 poles to probe its atmosphere and interior. Planetary scientists know that Jupiter, the largest of the eight planets, played a crucial role in shaping our cosmic neighbourhood, by sucking up much of the gas around in the solar system鈥檚 early days.
Most of this gas is hydrogen and helium, but trace levels of other elements, such as oxygen and nitrogen, locked up in Jupiter鈥檚 atmosphere will tell us about its history. Juno will also map the planet鈥檚 gravitational and magnetic fields to investigate its interior and measure the density of its core, which may tell us whether this is solid.
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The spacecraft is expected to orbit Jupiter 37 times over 18 months.聽In February 2018, it will plunge to a fiery end in the planet鈥檚 atmosphere.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淎rrival at Jupiter鈥�
Article amended on 30 June 2016
The planned end date of the Juno mission has been updated.