From Newsgroup: sci.space.news

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6520

NASA's Juno Spacecraft Crosses Jupiter/Sun Gravitational Boundary
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
May 27, 2016

Since its launch five years ago, there have been three forces tugging
at NASA's Juno spacecraft as it speeds through the solar system. The sun, Earth and Jupiter have all been influential -- a gravitational trifecta
of sorts. At times, Earth was close enough to be the frontrunner. More recently, the sun has had the most clout when it comes to Juno's trajectory. Today, it can be reported that Jupiter is now in the gravitational driver's seat, and the basketball court-sized spacecraft is not looking back.

"Today the gravitational influence of Jupiter is neck and neck with that
of the sun," said Rick Nybakken, Juno project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "As of tomorrow, and for the rest
of the mission, we project Jupiter's gravity will dominate as the trajectory-perturbing
effects by other celestial bodies are reduced to insignificant roles."

Juno was launched on Aug. 5, 2011. On July 4 of this year, it will perform
a Jupiter orbit insertion maneuver -- a 35-minute burn of its main engine, which will impart a mean change in velocity of 1,212 mph (542 meters per second) on the spacecraft. Once in orbit, the spacecraft will circle the Jovian world 37 times, skimming to within 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers)
above the planet's cloud tops. During the flybys, Juno will probe beneath
the obscuring cloud cover of Jupiter and study its auroras to learn more
about the planet's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere.

Juno's name comes from Greek and Roman mythology. The mythical god Jupiter drew a veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief, and his wife
-- the goddess Juno -- was able to peer through the clouds and reveal Jupiter's true nature.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA's New Frontiers Program,
which is managed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft. The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA.

For more information about Juno visit these sites:

http://www.nasa.gov/juno

http://missionjuno.swri.edu


News Media Contact

DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
agle@jpl.nasa.gov

2016-136

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