Juno, NASA's Space Probe, Enters Orbit Around Jupiter After Five Years

Juno, NASA's space probe, entered the orbit of Jupiter on Monday evening, July 14, US time, after a five-year journey, while its engine faced the risk of fire. This marks the beginning of a 20-month orbit around the largest planet in the solar system, aimed at gathering information about its formation and location. Scott Bolton, the chief scientist of this mission and an expert at NASA's research institute in San Antonio, Florida, told reporters on Tuesday: 'We have arrived. We are in orbit, and we have conquered Jupiter. From now on, the fun begins.' According to Reuters, the Juno probe will be positioned to start examining Jupiter's magnetic fields and what lies behind its thick clouds after three months. The probe is set to investigate the density of the core and the amount of water present in the planet's atmosphere, which are crucial factors in determining its distance from the sun during the formation of this massive gas planet. The location and formation of this planet have influenced the emergence and positioning of other planets in the solar system, including Earth, and its unique position for the emergence of life. Scott Bolton added, 'The question that has occupied my mind throughout my life, and I hope we find the answer to it, is how we got here. To me, this is a fundamental question.' Jupiter's orbit is five times farther from the sun than Earth, but the formation of this planet may have started elsewhere and could have altered the positions of other planets in the solar system through migration and collisions. The immense gravitational pull of Jupiter changes the paths of celestial bodies and asteroids, preventing collisions with Earth and other parts of the solar system. Juno, the second space probe to enter Jupiter's orbit, was launched five years ago from the Florida space station, and the cost of this mission is approximately one billion dollars. Upon entering Jupiter's orbit, the probe had to be positioned very precisely. If the slightest error occurred at that moment, Juno would have missed Jupiter's orbit, and the mission would have been wasted along with all its efforts and costs. NASA experts predict that Juno will be in the right position to take close-up images of Jupiter on August 27, and on that day, its scientific equipment will be activated for testing. So far, only one other probe, named Galileo, has entered Jupiter's orbit and managed to fly around its 67 known moons. Scott Bolton stated that Juno is likely to make more discoveries. Additionally, seven other American probes have passed near Jupiter during their missions to other parts of the solar system and conducted small exploratory missions. At the end of its 20-month journey, the Juno probe will dive into Jupiter's atmosphere during its final orbit and will be completely destroyed and vaporized due to this collision. Like the Galileo probe, which met the same fate in 2003, Juno's destruction is designed to ensure that no microbes from Earth are transferred to Jupiter's atmosphere, particularly to one of its moons called Europa, which has an ocean on its surface. This moon is the next target for studies on the search for life in other parts of the solar system.