Problems of the engine of Juno in the orbit of Jupiter

Problems of the engine of Juno in the orbit of Jupiter

The next opportunity to move the NASA spacecraft into orbit will be December 11th.

The NASA Juno spacecraft will continue its 53-day orbit around Jupiter, at least until December 11, after a possible malfunction is detected in the main rocket engine.

Controllers from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, planned to reduce Juno’s speed on Wednesday so that it would shift to a 14-day orbit around the largest planet in the Solar System.

But at the end of last week, during a routine check of the state of the spacecraft, engineers found that the two valves that were part of the system and created pressure for Juno’s fuel did not work as planned.

“The valves had to open in a few seconds. But instead it took minutes, ”said project manager Rick Nibakken in a statement. - “We need to thoroughly deal with this task before moving ahead with engine problems.” Ideally, the maneuver for adjusting the orbit of Juno is performed when the spacecraft is closest to Jupiter. And the next ideal opportunity will be on December 11th.

Scientists compensate for changes in plans by including all of Juno's scientific tools during his close approach to Jupiter on Wednesday. This is the next day when an orbit adjustment was planned.

“The orbital period does not affect the quality of the study that occurs during one of Juno’s closest spans near Jupiter. In this sense, the mission is very flexible, ”said Scott Bolton, a leading scientist at the Southwestern Research Institute in San Antonio, in a statement.

The Juno spacecraft arrived on Jupiter on July 4th for a 20-month study that should explain how and where Jupiter was formed.

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