03.18.13
Juno Position & Status
View of Juno’s position on March 18 from NASA's Eyes on the Solar System.
As
of March 18, Juno was approximately 80 million miles (129 million kilometers)
from Earth. This is equal to 0.86 AU, or less than the distance from Earth to
the sun. The one-way radio signal travel time between Earth and Juno is
currently about 7 minutes. Juno is currently traveling at a velocity of about 13
miles (21 kilometers) per second relative to the sun. Velocity relative to
Earth is about 12 miles (20 kilometers) per second.
The Juno spacecraft is in excellent health and is operating nominally. Four instruments -- JEDI, MWR, Waves, and MAG -- are turned on.
Juno is currently headed back toward the inner solar system for a planned Earth flyby gravity assist maneuver on Oct. 9, 2013. The Juno mission operations team is continuing their planning activities in advance of this critical maneuver. The gravity assist will give the spacecraft the boost it needs to reach Jupiter, where it is slated to arrive in July 2016.
Propellant Update
At launch Juno was loaded with 1280 kg of fuel (hydrazine) and 770 kg of oxidizer (nitrogen tetroxide). As expected for this point in the mission, the spacecraft has used about half of its oxidizer firing the main engine for the two deep space maneuvers (346 kg total). Juno has used about 445 kg of its fuel, with about 836 kg of hydrazine remaining.
For perspective, one can think of Juno as having two gas tanks. One (the fuel) is two-thirds full, and the other (the oxidizer) is half full. Both propellants are needed to fire the main engine, but only one, the hydrazine fuel, is needed to fire the spacecraft’s thrusters.
Read more about Juno’s propulsion system here.
See Juno’s current position, speed and more via NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System 3D interactive. Launch the Juno module or view Juno in the standard Eyes on the Solar System interface.
The Juno spacecraft is in excellent health and is operating nominally. Four instruments -- JEDI, MWR, Waves, and MAG -- are turned on.
Juno is currently headed back toward the inner solar system for a planned Earth flyby gravity assist maneuver on Oct. 9, 2013. The Juno mission operations team is continuing their planning activities in advance of this critical maneuver. The gravity assist will give the spacecraft the boost it needs to reach Jupiter, where it is slated to arrive in July 2016.
Propellant Update
At launch Juno was loaded with 1280 kg of fuel (hydrazine) and 770 kg of oxidizer (nitrogen tetroxide). As expected for this point in the mission, the spacecraft has used about half of its oxidizer firing the main engine for the two deep space maneuvers (346 kg total). Juno has used about 445 kg of its fuel, with about 836 kg of hydrazine remaining.
For perspective, one can think of Juno as having two gas tanks. One (the fuel) is two-thirds full, and the other (the oxidizer) is half full. Both propellants are needed to fire the main engine, but only one, the hydrazine fuel, is needed to fire the spacecraft’s thrusters.
Read more about Juno’s propulsion system here.
See Juno’s current position, speed and more via NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System 3D interactive. Launch the Juno module or view Juno in the standard Eyes on the Solar System interface.