(ORDO NEWS) — The Juno mission was designed to meet the high demands of the harsh conditions maintained in Jupiter’s space environment, namely weak sunlight, extreme temperatures and destructive radiation.
This spacecraft is wrapped in thermal blankets to protect it from the extreme conditions of outer space. Almost all of the most sensitive electronics are housed in an armored case that protects them from Jupiter’s harsh radiation.
Machine overview
Communication
Controllers use NASA‘s giant Deep Space Network (DSN) radio antennas to communicate with the spacecraft.
These antennas are 70 and 34-meter dishes located at three different points on the globe, located in the USA, Spain and Australia, so that the entire solar system always falls into the field of view of at least one of the antennas during the daily rotation of the Earth.
The DSN network and the probe’s onboard High Gain Antenna work together as the main element of the gravitational experiment of the Juno mission.
Data processing
The “Brain and Central Nervous System” of the Juno mission is called the Command and Data Handling subsystem (C&DH).
This system controls the functions of the spacecraft, collects and organizes data received from scientific instruments, checks the health and safety of the spacecraft, and controls the transmission of data to Earth.
Propulsion system
The Juno vehicle is equipped with six large fuel tanks for its main rocket engine and thrusters. The main engine is used for critical maneuvers on the way to Jupiter and then for deceleration when entering orbit around the giant planet.
Thrusters are used to rotate the vehicle in various directions, including turning towards the sun to replenish energy reserves and turning towards the Earth to transmit data and receive commands. Spacecraft engines use liquid hydrazine and dinitrogen tetroxide as fuel.
Scientific Instruments of the Apparatus
Gravity Experiment
The gravitational experiment will make it possible to determine the subtlest changes in the gravitational field of Jupiter through small displacements of the apparatus during its orbital movement, which will be monitored using a method based on measuring the Doppler shift of the frequencies of radio waves, first emitted from the Earth by DSN antennas, and upon reaching the probe, reradiated by its onboard transponder back to the ground.
JADE
Instrument The Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) instrument will work in conjunction with Juno’s other instruments to analyze the particles and processes that produce the mesmerizing Jovian auroras.
It consists of a control unit and four sensors, three of which register electrons, and the fourth – positively charged ions, such as hydrogen, helium, oxygen and sulfur ions.
JIRAM
Instrument The Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument will study Jupiter’s atmosphere inside and outside the aurora zones, revealing details of the interaction between the auroras, the magnetic field and the magnetosphere. This tool includes a camera that will shoot in the infrared range and a spectrometer.
In addition, the spacecraft is equipped with a magnetometer, a microwave radiometer, a UV spectrograph and an instrument called WAVES, which will measure radio and plasma waves in Jupiter’s magnetosphere.
Compiled based on materials posted on the official website of the Juno mission.
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