05.23.13
Juno Position & Status
View of Juno’s position on May 24 from NASA's Eyes on the Solar System.
As of May 24, Juno was approximately 50 million miles (80 million
kilometers) from Earth. The one-way radio signal travel time between Earth and
Juno is currently about 4.4 minutes. Juno is currently traveling at a velocity
of about 17 miles (27 kilometers) per second relative to the sun, and
increasing. Velocity relative to Earth is about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) per
second. Juno has now traveled 742 million miles (1.2 billion kilometers) since
launch.
The Juno spacecraft is in excellent health and is operating nominally.
Recent spacecraft significant events
Mission controllers received confirmation from the spacecraft on May 22 that its MWR, JEDI and Waves instruments were powered off as planned. The magnetometer experiment remains powered on at low data rates. The planned instrument shutdown was done in preparation for the spacecraft’s upcoming switch to its lower data rate antennas as it begins the next phase of its mission, dubbed “Inner Cruise 3” on May 29.
The solar-powered Juno spacecraft and its saucer-shaped high-gain antenna (or HGA) always point sunward, but while Juno is in the inner solar system, Earth’s position on the sky shifts dramatically. Earth’s movement means that Juno cannot always use its HGA and benefit from its high data rate connection. For this reason, the spacecraft has a suite of antennas that allow communications with Earth from other angles, but at the cost of lower data rates, resulting in a reduction in Juno’s ability to transmit science data during that time. Juno’s science instruments will be powered on again shortly before the Earth flyby, slated for Oct. 9.
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.
Recent spacecraft significant events
Mission controllers received confirmation from the spacecraft on May 22 that its MWR, JEDI and Waves instruments were powered off as planned. The magnetometer experiment remains powered on at low data rates. The planned instrument shutdown was done in preparation for the spacecraft’s upcoming switch to its lower data rate antennas as it begins the next phase of its mission, dubbed “Inner Cruise 3” on May 29.
The solar-powered Juno spacecraft and its saucer-shaped high-gain antenna (or HGA) always point sunward, but while Juno is in the inner solar system, Earth’s position on the sky shifts dramatically. Earth’s movement means that Juno cannot always use its HGA and benefit from its high data rate connection. For this reason, the spacecraft has a suite of antennas that allow communications with Earth from other angles, but at the cost of lower data rates, resulting in a reduction in Juno’s ability to transmit science data during that time. Juno’s science instruments will be powered on again shortly before the Earth flyby, slated for Oct. 9.
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.