Automation & IIoT

NASA’s Juno spacecraft is halfway to Jupiter

Aug. 14, 2013

That status of NASA's Juno spacecraft bound for Jupiter.

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NASA’s Juno spacecraft has made it halfway along its journey to Jupiter and has another 9.46 AUs, or astronomical units, to go. An AU is the distance between the Sun and Earth or about 93 million miles.

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This NASA chart shows the path Juno is taking on its way to Jupiter, along with dates of important events along the way. The satellite is now preparing for an Earth flyby (EFB) in which it will use the pull of Earth’s gravity to boost its speed by over 16,000 mph. The ticks represent 30-day periods.

NASA’s Juno spacecraft reached a major milestone recently when it completed 9.46 astronomical units of travel (about 880 million miles), putting it halfway along its journey to Jupiter. Now in its third year of a five-year journey to Jupiter, Juno is about 35 million miles from Earth. This October, the spacecraft will increase its velocity by 16,330 mph (7.3 kilometers per second) when it makes a flyby of Earth and comes within 347 mile of our planet.Juno was launched in August 2011. It is scheduled to make it to Jupiter in July 2016.For more information on Juno.

About the Author

Richard Dryden

Richard Dryden is a writer with experience in print and online media as well as social media. He has contributed to Machine Design and Hydraulics & Pneumatics.