FIREWORKS: Yes, we know it's Independence Day, and yes, we stood on our deck and watched the big pyrotechnics show over Lake Union after dark.
But all day long, we had our eyes and minds on NASA TV, watching coverage of the spacecraft Juno reaching the largest planet in our solar system. So exciting!
We watched five years ago when Juno lifted off from Cape Canaveral, destination Jupiter. (The actual launch is about the 4 minute mark in the video below.)
Five years and 1.7 billion or so miles later, Juno has reached its destination and is orbiting the giant, gaseous planet just as planned. Phenomenal!
Following Juno's successful Jupiter Orbit Insertion (JOI), NASA administrator Charles Bolden had this to say: “Independence Day always is something to celebrate, but today we can add to America’s birthday another reason to cheer -- Juno is at Jupiter. And what is more American than a NASA mission going boldly where no spacecraft has gone before? With Juno, we will investigate the unknowns of Jupiter’s massive radiation belts to delve deep into not only the planet’s interior, but into how Jupiter was born and how our entire solar system evolved.”
According to Rick Nybakken, Juno project manager from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, "The spacecraft worked perfectly, which is always nice when you’re driving a vehicle with 1.7 billion miles on the odometer. Jupiter orbit insertion was a big step and the most challenging remaining in our mission plan, but there are others that have to occur before we can give the science team the mission they are looking for.”
So what's next? Per a NASA press release, "Juno's principal goal is to understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter. With its suite of nine science instruments, Juno will investigate the existence of a solid planetary core, map Jupiter's intense magnetic field, measure the amount of water and ammonia in the deep atmosphere, and observe the planet's auroras. The mission also will let us take a giant step forward in our understanding of how giant planets form and the role these titans played in putting together the rest of the solar system. As our primary example of a giant planet, Jupiter also can provide critical knowledge for understanding the planetary systems being discovered around other stars."
We're looking forward to following Juno for the months to come.
SUBMITTED: We had a loooooong "to do" list today. One item was (finally!) submitting an illustrated manuscript for picture book to a big publishing house.
As part of the process, Annabelle had to create an online portfolio of artwork. You can see it here: https://kisky.carbonmade.com/
FUN FACT: If you Google "askew," the page results will be tilted ever so slightly. Hat tip to Annabelle for sharing this info.
