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back to article Juno yields to Jupiter's gravitational embrace

NASA's Juno spacecraft last week crossed the Sun/Jupiter gravitational boundary and is now firmly in the gas giant's embrace. Rick Nybakken, Juno project manager at the space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said on Friday: "Today the gravitational influence of Jupiter is neck and neck with that of the Sun. As of tomorrow, …

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  1. arctic_haze

    How will this end?

    In February 2018, the Jovians will have their Roswell.

    9 0 Reply
    1. TitterYeNot
      Reply Icon

      Re: How will this end?

      "In February 2018, the Jovians will have their Roswell."

      Well, as one of Juno's primary mission objectives is to investigate Jupiter's atmospheric conditions, they won't be far wrong when the Daily Jovian News reports that it was 'only a weather balloon'...

      9 0 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
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        Alien

        Re: How will this end?

        It will be reported not a weather balloon, but a rare dull-colored pocket of oxygen in Jupiter's luminescent swamp gas atmosphere!

        2 0 Reply
  2. Rich 11

    Deorbit?

    With language like that it clearly can't be a precautionary first strike. Phew. What a relief.

    0 0 Reply

  3. This post has been deleted by its author

  4. Herby

    At least...

    The antenna (and other stuff) is unfurled and working properly (Galileo). Oh, and the receiver isn't drifting around (Voyager aka MJS-77).

    Best of luck.

    0 0 Reply
  5. Quentin Finknottle Again

    Why deorbit? Why not leave it in orbit until it decays and achieves the same result anyway? Does anyone know?

    2 0 Reply
    1. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge
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      Joke

      If they don't deorbit it carefully, who knows who or what it could hit!

      1 0 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
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        Black Helicopters

        Maybe the whole ' we''re going to put a probe in Jovian orbit and carefully deorbit" is a cover story because they found an important target. Shoggoths and other tentacled horrors like a methane atmosphere, right?

        1 0 Reply

    2. This post has been deleted by its author

    3. Roj Blake Silver badge
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      If they leave it in permanent Jovian orbit there's a chance it will end up colliding with and potentially contaminating one of the icy moons.

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  6. Francis Boyle Silver badge

    I'm not buying the "basketball court sized" thing

    It's obviously 31/2" in diameter - how else could they re-purpose a harddrive arm as a magnetometer.

    3 0 Reply

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