Colorado Spacecraft To Begin Jupiter Orbit After Years Of Travel

JEFFERSON COUNTY (CBS4) - A spacecraft built in Colorado and launched into space several years ago is scheduled to arrive at Jupiter on July 4.

JUNO was built at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company in Littleton and launched from Cape Canaveral in 2011.

After several years and 1.7 billion miles traveled, Juno will go into orbit around Jupiter on Independence Day.

Just after 7 p.m. tonight, engineers in Littleton will slow the spacecraft by approximately 1,200 miles per hour from a speed of 150,000 miles per hour, allowing it to slip into orbit around Jupiter.

(credit: NASA)

Juno will study the largest planet in the solar system, repeatedly diving between Jupiter and its intense belts of charged particle radiation. Juno will come within 3,000 miles of Jupiter's cloud tops.

The spacecraft will investigate the planet's origins, interior structure, deep atmosphere, and magnetosphere.

The goal is to better understand Jupiter's formation and evolution, thereby adding to the understanding of our solar system and how it formed.

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