Get ready , because for the next year or so , you ’re blend in to be hear a lot more about Jupiter . Tomorrow , NASA ’s Juno ballistic capsule will perform its first skill flyby of the gas monster – and in the mental process , glimpse its poles like never before .
Junoentered orbitaround Jupiter in July , the first spacecraft to do so since NASA ’s Galileo in 1995 . To keep itself safe from Jupiter ’s radiation therapy , though , Juno is in a spacious sweeping reach around the planet . At its furthest , it is up to 3 million km ( 2 million Roman mile ) away . On Saturday , it will vanish to just 4,200 kilometre ( 2,500 miles ) above the clouds of Jupiter – its closest approach to the planet so far .
When Juno first enrol eye socket , its eight skill instrument were turned off . This time around , all eight will be on , include JunoCam . This camera will crack high-pitched - resolution images of Jupiter and , for the first time , will get detailed images of Jupiter ’s due north and south perch . We have seen Jupiter ’s polar regionbefore , thanks to the Cassini spacecraft , but those views were more or less obscured because Cassini viewed the terminal from an angle .
" No other spacecraft has ever orbited Jupiter this nearly , or over the Pole in this way , " enjoin Steve Levin , Juno projection scientist from NASA ’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena , California , in astatement . " This is our first chance and there are bounce to be surprise . We need to take our time to ensure our conclusions are right . "
The flyby is expected to take place around 8.51am EDT ( 1.51pm BST ) tomorrow , although imagery wo n’t be sent home direct off . A NASA interpreter told IFLScience we could expect the first images to be released on Thursday , September 1 .
This is the first of 36 flybys of Jupiter planned for Juno up until the end of its charge in February 2018 , and it is just the get-go for some of the enchanting science we can expect from Jupiter .
" This is our first chance to really take a close - up feeling at the king of our solar system and start to estimate out how he shape , " Scott Bolton , main investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio , Texas , said in the statement .
