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[–]Rainmaker1973 429 points430 points  (49 children)

Contratulations, team. Epic success. Question: do you plan to release the raw images taken with JunoCam to the public soon? Will there be an approach similar to the release of Cassini or Curiosity raw?

[–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 579 points580 points  (48 children)

The approach movie images (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpsQimYhNkA) will be released soon. Images from Orbit 1 will not be released immediately, because we'll be doing lots of testing of the camera operations then, but from Orbit 2 and onward, our policy will be to release all images in a format that can be read immediately as soon as we get them and this initial processing step is done. -Glenn Orton

[–]theLabyrinthMaker 59 points60 points  (35 children)

What's the orbital period?

[–]812many 159 points160 points  (20 children)

From a different response, they said the orbital period is 53 days, with the first actual images being available to the public after Aug 27th.

Edit from guy below: Initially 53.5 days but they will change that to 14 days after two (I think) of the larger orbital periods.

[–]raerdor 17 points18 points  (5 children)

53 days is the initial orbital period around Jupiter.

[–]SkywayCheerios[🍰] 933 points934 points  (240 children)

Something I've always wondered about controlling probes like Juno in deep space... Are the commands that control the engine burn sent to the spacecraft from Earth and executed as they're received, or was the precise start time of the burn programmed in Juno's computer ahead of time and executed pretty much autonomously?

[–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 1079 points1080 points  (209 children)

We normally queue up the commands to the spacecraft well in advance. Occasionally, there are instances when commands are sent in "real time", but definitely not for something as critical as JOI. -Steve Levin

[–][deleted]  (119 children)

[removed]

    [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 900 points901 points  (97 children)

    Right now, it would take a bit more than 45 minutes for a command to reach Juno. That's how long it takes for radio waves (or light) to reach Jupiter from Earth. Earth and Jupiter both move, of course, so the "one way light time" will change.

    [–]WiglyWorm 461 points462 points  (83 children)

    Follow up: Do your antennas have to account for this relative motion when sending or receiving data? Is the frequency shift significant?

    [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 907 points908 points  (81 children)

    Yes. The big radio antennas from NASA's Deep Space Network have to take into account both the motions of Jupiter, Earth, and the spacecraft in order to point in the right direction and track at the right frequency. -Steve Levin

    [–]Donberakon 661 points662 points  (17 children)

    So they have to lead the target with their radio bazookas

    [–]Lazin 59 points60 points  (0 children)

    Stupid slow light, so slow you have to lead the target thousands of km.

    [–]bob_derppy 136 points137 points  (47 children)

    So amazing. What a great time to be alive!

    [–]IMovedYourCheese 69 points70 points  (20 children)

    FYI the size of the data isn't very relevant in this case. It would likely take a kilobyte or megabyte of data around the same time.

    Look up latency vs. bandwidth/throughput.

    [–]large_butt 309 points310 points  (12 children)

    FYI the size of the data isn't very relevant in this case.

    Shannon-Hartley, baby! What you've said is a good rule of thumb, but transmissions from Earth to Jupiter, especially if the probe is using its low-gain antenna (which it was during the insertion burn) are often done at an incredibly low bitrate to achieve an acceptably low level of error.

    To intuit why that's the case, consider how the fine details of a radio station turn to fuzz as you drive further and further away. If I'm on air reading the creepy love letters I'm sending you at breakneck speed, it won't be long until you can't make out enough detail to be sure of what I'm saying, and soon after you're probably going to be unable to make out any of my sweet, sweet poetry at all. When the signal is weak enough, you can't understand anything I say, no matter how many error-correcting codes I use.

    Now, imagine that I'm doing the same thing, but instead of reading normally, I've opted for a less information-dense way of communicating with you, translated the restraining order you put on me into Morse code, and am screaming it at the top of my lungs. I'm transmitting information at a much slower rate than I was before, but you can easily hear the difference between screaming and not screaming even when your reception is so bad that you couldn't understand a word I say.

    Anyway, the point of this is that there is an upper limit on the rate at which you can transmit information like this without it turning into complete garbage, so /u/LordLimes was actually kinda onto something.

    [–]tacobellwasabadidea 43 points44 points  (0 children)

    This was beautifully explained, and quite simple to understand when put in your terms. Thank you :)

    [–]skarphace 8 points9 points  (1 child)

    It's not irrelevant. We measure bandwidth in bytes per second. It's all still bit by bit and the frequency dictates throughput, though. So he is technically right in asking the question, but I doubt he wanted it down to the pico second so both of our points are moot.

    [–]baltakatei 84 points85 points  (56 children)

    How does JUNO know what commands are legitimate ones and which may be misinformation from a malicious entity? How does NASA JPL authenticate themselves with JUNO?

    [–]saxmfone1 243 points244 points  (27 children)

    NASA, if you put your Juno password here, it will just come up as stars. Like this *******, try it.

    [–]MajorasTerribleFate 56 points57 points  (7 children)

    *******

    E: It worked! Really!

    [–][deleted] 56 points57 points  (0 children)

    Juno2

    [–]Sirlothar 47 points48 points  (18 children)

    Nasa's Deep Space network is quite large, there are not many radios in existence to have the power to even be able to reach the craft. Even if someone had a radio powerful enough to send signals to the craft they would also have to have extensive knowledge on what to send.

    http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/

    afaik, NASA doesn't encrypt their signals because bandwidth is a priority but i could be wrong

    [–]Frostiken 29 points30 points  (10 children)

    I'd try rm -rf / first

    [–]HotelDon 90 points91 points  (5 children)

    Response: "Would you like to upgrade to Windows 10?"

    [–]analcrackers 213 points214 points  (22 children)

    I don't get what jerk off instructions have to do with space

    [–][deleted] 176 points177 points  (9 children)

    For those who are actually curious: Jupiter Orbital Insertion.

    It still sounds dirty.

    [–]KevinBaconsBush 71 points72 points  (6 children)

    Instructions unclear dick stuck in Jupiter.

    [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 252 points253 points  (27 children)

    It is a mix. In general, some of our commands are "real-time" and others are put into a sequence. Sequences contain a mixture of serial commands mixed with "absolute timed" commands. Everything last night was in an automated sequence since it needed to happen in a perfect sequence at just the precise time. Especially important when it takes 48 minutes for any commands to reach the spacecraft from Earth....

    Rick

    [–][deleted]  (21 children)

    [deleted]

      [–]astrofreak92 50 points51 points  (14 children)

      For the JOI burn, the craft was set to immediately reboot any failed system and try again. As long as 20 minutes out of the 35 minutes of the burn were successful they'd have a salvageable orbit, but if they waited to fix the problem it would sail past Jupiter and never come back.

      [–]YouTee 14 points15 points  (13 children)

      what percent of the burn was successful? What's a "target" percentage? Do they expect 100% accuracy and then have a buffer?

      Basically, how accurately do we predict these sorts of things, generally?

      [–]WaysideToast 50 points51 points  (4 children)

      The burn was off by only one second if I'm not mistaken.

      [–]astrofreak92 15 points16 points  (7 children)

      The actual time of the burn was one second off of the predicted time. Not sure what that means, though.

      [–]Quackmatic 61 points62 points  (1 child)

      It means Juno missed Jupiter and is now headed directly for an orphanage for disabled children.

      1 second, people. Not even one.

      [–]Titan_Astraeus 7 points8 points  (0 children)

      The burn wasn't 1 second off, the whole mission was 1 second off what they predicted it to take.

      [–]MattBaster 790 points791 points  (107 children)

      What specific theories about Jupiter are you most looking forward to confirming whether they were accurate or not?

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 1980 points1981 points  (98 children)

      I'm most interested in finding out what lurks beneath Jupiter's clouds. It's mind-blowing to think that we don't yet know what the interior is of the largest planet in the solar system. Is it rocky? Is it metallic? We just don't know. But that's exciting, and it's why we explore.

      -- SLS

      [–]MattBaster 374 points375 points  (60 children)

      It's impossible to look at the current pictures of Jupiter and not be in awe of what's under those amazing clouds--!

      [–]Rhinosaucerous 90 points91 points  (48 children)

      You should see it through a telescope

      [–]WookinForNub 84 points85 points  (44 children)

      Jupiter was the first thing I identified with my scope.

      [–]ElMenduko 146 points147 points  (41 children)

      What about the Moon?

      [–]screen317 616 points617 points  (36 children)

      Don't think you need a telescope to identify that.

      [–]youlookdumbinabowtie 357 points358 points  (33 children)

      Think again, "the Moon" is OP's name for his penis.

      [–]5up3rj 136 points137 points  (6 children)

      That's microbiology, not astronomy

      [–]theEdwardJC 19 points20 points  (0 children)

      Same here! Can't wait to follow as you unravel this ancient mystery. Congrats!

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 530 points531 points  (7 children)

      I'm really excited about measuring the global water abundance! The amount of water in Jupiter should tell us a lot about how and where the planet formed. The leading theory right now involves large chunks of ice initially, possibly with the planet drifting inward after initially forming much farther from the Sun. The water abundance should teach us a lot about those formation theories. -Steve Levin

      [–]MattBaster 50 points51 points  (0 children)

      I'm looking forward to what you'll publish! Congratulations on the mission!

      [–]_AlphaZulu_ 363 points364 points  (47 children)

      Hey guys/gal, hearing about this is super exciting. My question may seem stupid/silly, but seriously, how much time/planning goes into a mission such as this? Especially from Launch in Florida, the gravitational slingshot, up until it enter Orbit.

      Seeing this just blows my mind. How many backup plans do you have for a mission such as this if it doesn't go according to plan?

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 677 points678 points  (38 children)

      A huge amount of time and planning goes into a mission like this! I personally started thinking about the ideas that eventually became Juno in about the year 2000, after a conversation with Scott Bolton, who had already begun to contemplate the measurements we can do. Our first proposal to NASA was in 2004, and we began designing real hardware in 2006.

      As far as backup plans are concerned, we always try to keep a range of possible contingencies in mind. For some of them, we make fairly detailed plans, and for some of the less likely scenarios we might just talk it over for a while and make a few notes about "what if". -Steve Levin

      [–]ash3s 233 points234 points  (24 children)

      It is just absolutely astonishing that you guys make these 'ideas' into realities. This is one of the most incredible accomplishments in the history of mankind.. bravo sir.

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 247 points248 points  (7 children)

      5+ years of development and building. 5 years of flying through interplanetary space from Earth to Jupiter (with a gravity slingshot along the way). -- JRE

      [–]yisas0929 164 points165 points  (13 children)

      You mentioned at the press conference that the video taken by Juno before insertion is the first real time capture of the harmonious motion of the moons around Jupiter. Is this not accomplished by satellites from Earth? How is it different besides the obvious advantages of proximity?

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 332 points333 points  (12 children)

      From the Earth, we only have 8 or so hours to capture the motion of the satellites, unless you're at an unusual place like the south pole while Jupiter is in the southern hemisphere. But it's not, and there are no arctic observatories. This is the first time we've seen the motion of the satellites without interruption for weeks at a time. -Glenn Orton

      [–]Wavicle 23 points24 points  (5 children)

      What about Cassini?

      [–]Ulairi 35 points36 points  (2 children)

      The time between frames on Cassini is so high it might not be counted as "without interruption" by their definition.

      [–]Loovian 15 points16 points  (1 child)

      And the moons are going behind the planet so you don't see the entire path.

      [–]abraksis747 1439 points1440 points  (76 children)

      Have you seen any large black objects with the proportions of 1 by 4 by 9??

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 1048 points1049 points  (58 children)

      No monoliths spotted on Jupiter or any of its moons, but I did see one in the possession of Bob Pappalardo, Europa Mission Project Scientist. https://science.jpl.nasa.gov/people/Pappalardo/

      -- SLS

      [–]abraksis747 435 points436 points  (46 children)

      ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS—EXCEPT EUROPA ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE

      And thank you, atleast you guys are looking for one, all anybody can ask.

      [–]andnowforme0 50 points51 points  (40 children)

      I'm sorry, I'm missing the reference...

      [–]ketchup1001 85 points86 points  (36 children)

      Sequel to 2001: Space Odyssey. Mission to Europa ends with that cryptic message, transmitted by an unknown alien entity. Ib4 there are also novels that predate the movies that I haven't read

      [–]Jonthrei 41 points42 points  (28 children)

      2001 was written simultaneously with the film. 2010 predates its film by 2 years though, and there are two more novels set in the universe.

      [–]runtheplacered 52 points53 points  (22 children)

      And weirdly enough, the 2001 novel was retconned by the 2010 novel, because of the movie. In the 2001 novel it was Japetus, a moon of Saturn. But it got swapped to Jupiter for 2010.

      I loved the first two books but the last two really aren't that great IMO.

      Rama on the other hand, wish that'd become a movie already.

      [–]Jonthrei 35 points36 points  (13 children)

      Eh, Rama already became a game.

      I kid, but Mass Effect ripped it off so thoroughly that its hard not to see Clarke all over that game.

      [–]runtheplacered 20 points21 points  (8 children)

      Haha, yep. The citadel in particular was lifted directly out of Rendezvous with Rama, and they use the same method for getting across space, using massive gravitational fields. I'm sure there's more I can't think of at the moment.

      And there is actually a Rama first-person adventure game, that came out sometime in the mid-90's, although I've never played it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rama_(video_game)

      [–]Loovian 533 points534 points  (50 children)

      Thanks to Kerbal Space Program I'm able to appreciate the maneuvers undertaken to get into orbit. Have you considered doing anything with the KSP guys to celebrate Juno?

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 829 points830 points  (8 children)

      Lots of employees do play KSP on their own time and NASA has collaborated with KSP on other missions, such as the upcoming OSIRIS-REx mission. Learn more here: http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/gamers-tackle-virtual-asteroid-sampling-mission - JT

      [–]matroxman11 211 points212 points  (0 children)

      Oh my god that's so cool

      [–]albinobluesheep 166 points167 points  (3 children)

      OSIRIS-REx mission

      NASA opening jurassic park confirmed.

      [–]Maverekt 37 points38 points  (35 children)

      Would you recommend KSP? I've heard so much good, how bad is the learning curve? I really want to pick it up.

      [–]Loovian 118 points119 points  (18 children)

      It's really hard but very satisfying. I highly recommend it if you have any interest in space flight though. You can get started with a tutorial video or wiki page... just follow the steps step by step and remember that the goal is always to do a little more, not to just fly freely in space on your first launch. So you can start by building a rocket that goes up a bit... then another one that goes higher, then one that kinda reaches space, then space... then you got to try to get into orbit, which is really hard but totally amazing once you pull it off. Sorry for all the words, but yah, try it out!

      [–]MetaL-ftw 29 points30 points  (1 child)

      Highly recommend it! I've learned so much about maneuvers in space to be able to make it a solid orbit, docking, and especially going to other planets. They have introduced better intro missions that go from controlling your character outside of a vehicle, to being able to dock with an asteroid and bring it into Kerbin(Earth) orbit. Plus there's an amazing mod community. Also if you're really lost check out Scott Manley's videos on YouTube. Good luck!

      [–]Pu1pFiction 626 points627 points  (86 children)

      Do you think NASA should make visible-light cameras a permanent feature of all future craft, both from a public engagement & scientific standpoint?

      When will the first images from JUNO be released?

      What are your opinions on the NASA budget, which is less than that of a single Saturn V launch in the 60's? Should we put more pressure on congress to address and raise the amount?

      Thank you for the AMA, amazing work!

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 660 points661 points  (83 children)

      Not necessarily; it will depend on the objectives of the mission. The first images have been released! Here's the link to the approach movie on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpsQimYhNkA

      Thanks for your interest. -Glenn Orton

      [–]Gravity-Lens 141 points142 points  (22 children)

      Over what kind of time period was the video taken?

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 300 points301 points  (14 children)

      17 days

      CJH

      [–]Silfrgluggr 69 points70 points  (6 children)

      Io, the innermost moon, orbits Jupiter every 42 hours. Hopefully that at least gives you some scale because I can't do the math right now

      [–]jakub_h 37 points38 points  (1 child)

      Well you've provided the ultimate answer so I don't see how someone could ask for anything else anyway.

      [–]SrslyCmmon 52 points53 points  (13 children)

      Why did the approach video stop there? I was hoping to see Jupiter fill up the screen.

      [–]Kehrnal 151 points152 points  (11 children)

      The team shut off all the scientific instruments not immediately critical to getting into orbit around Jupiter 5 days before closest approach so that all the computational power and resources could go towards making sure Juno got into orbit.

      [–]SrslyCmmon 50 points51 points  (7 children)

      Aww man

      [–]GavinZac 30 points31 points  (5 children)

      The good news is that now that they're in orbit they can make the next close pass with all instruments on.

      [–][deleted] 14 points15 points  (7 children)

      Damn, I thought Vangelis was dead.

      [–]should-of 289 points290 points  (5 children)

      If you could tell your earlier selves when designing and building this craft anything, what would you tell them? And what would you do differently?

      [–]r-e-d_r-o-c-k-e-t 63 points64 points  (2 children)

      Bummed this didn't get an answer, but great question!

      [–]Xcodist 21 points22 points  (0 children)

      Would love for this to be answered.

      [–]darkchucky 195 points196 points  (10 children)

      Rick Nybakken - as PM what project management method did you use? With which program did you track it, MS Project? Would you mind share the WBS or just part of it? Congratulations on your success!

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 295 points296 points  (9 children)

      A combination of techniques. Our project schedulers used MS Project pre-launch and we also used Earned Value Measurement techniques to assess money spent vs. work completed. At the top level, the WBS pre-launch (working from memory) was something like: - 1.0 Project Mangement - 2.0 Project system Engineering - 3.0 Mission Assurance (speciality engineering e.g. radiation testing/analysis, etc.) - 4.0 Engineering insight/oversight - 5.0 Instrument Development - 6.0 Spacecraft development (and instrument integration) - 7.0 Mission Operations

      Other tools that we use extensively at the PM level are email, file sharing, and Powerpoint. There are also extensive requirements tracking tools, waivers (with risk assessments) and anomaly reports/risk assessments (with significant processes behind each of them). And all of our subcontractors have their management and engineering development processes as well...

      Rick

      [–]trick_m0nkey 71 points72 points  (0 children)

      As a project manager, I aspire to be like you. Its not as sexy as an astronaut, but you guys get shit done. Thank you.

      [–]Senray 14 points15 points  (6 children)

      What does all this mean?

      [–]pdxpoker 89 points90 points  (51 children)

      Can you talk more about the reason Juno has to be intentionally destroyed?

      Also, from the pre orbit press release there was a question about the possibility of sending an image back from under the clouds before it disintegrates. How likely could this really be?

      So many more questions.. Potentially additional orbits? Any Europa science? More images of the moons?

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 235 points236 points  (48 children)

      Re: deorbit: We think Jupiter's icy moon Europa has a subsurface ocean of liquid water; and because everywhere on Earth that we've found water, we've also found life, this is a good place for us to search. However, we don't want to go looking for life in the universe only to find that we brought it with us from Earth. We have to abide by something called Planetary Protection. (It's like the Prime Directive, but real.)

      So, to keep Juno from ever running the risk of crashing into Europa and contaminating it, we will deorbit the spacecraft into Jupiter.

      Re: pictures? Images from under the clouds would be amazing. Whether or not the spacecraft could still transmit them is another matter. We might not have the right attitude during deorbit to do that.

      While the main goal of the mission is to study the planet's origin and structure, we will take as many images of the moons as we can.

      --SLS

      [–]mayavision 54 points55 points  (15 children)

      What if we contaminate Jupiter?

      [–]Darglief 18 points19 points  (13 children)

      The probe will vaporize entering jupiters atmosphere, and the matter that makes up jupiter wont support life, or at least earth life. Europa has no atmosphere and actually might have liquid water.

      [–]unwelcomepatting 27 points28 points  (11 children)

      Plot twist: Jupiter does have life of a different nature than Earth and we accidentally eliminate it

      [–]I_AM_shill 32 points33 points  (1 child)

      Jupiter takes much bigger hits from asteroids regularly. It will be fine.

      [–]cavalierau 30 points31 points  (17 children)

      How likely would a crash into Europa be? Will Juno be orbiting at a similar distance?

      Our own satellites haven't been escaping their orbits and crashing into our moon as far as I can tell. So the risk is really tiny, right?

      Still, I can understand the reasoning behind the choice.

      [–]celo753 49 points50 points  (12 children)

      It's an incredibly tiny chance, yes, but if it does happen and we find life on Europa after that, we'll never truly know whether life has developed there, or if it got there because of the Juno crash. So, better to not take the very small odds, because we only have one Europa around jupiter.

      [–]GGFFKK 33 points34 points  (3 children)

      Even the crappiest picture of what's underneath the clouds would be enough to let me die complete.

      [–]Froguy1126 323 points324 points  (36 children)

      Congratulations on a successful voyage! I've been following Juno for months and I watched the live stream when it arrived. Awesome job guys.

      I've always found it fascinating that Jupiter is just a giant ball of gas with no surface and a crazy metallic hydrogen core. But how can we be sure that Jupiter does have no surface? How would you be able to tell the difference between a ball of gas and just a planet with a super dense atmosphere?

      Thanks for doing this AMA and good luck with the science to come!

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 366 points367 points  (23 children)

      We'll use a combination of gravity and magnetic data to disentangle all the different combinations of material that could make up the core (or not). Our web of orbits crossing the planet at different longitudes will be important to build up these interior maps. -- JRE

      [–]silvrado 39 points40 points  (20 children)

      The idea of putting a spacecraft in orbit around Jupiter, let alone make it orbit at different longitudes is mind-boggling to say the least.

      [–]Prisencollinensinain 93 points94 points  (16 children)

      A+ #1 humanity best species in the universe wooooooo!

      [–]paxslayer 21 points22 points  (11 children)

      Is there a way to watch a recording of that stream? I didn't know about it but I'm curious to see it.

      [–]kimbiablue 58 points59 points  (10 children)

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p39pERjIqAg

      It's also well worth downloading NASA's Eyes on the Solar System app for your computer. You can watch replays of the progress animations and explore a lot of other information on the Juno mission, outside of all the other areas of space travel and missions that the app covers!

      [–]ramaiguy 16 points17 points  (3 children)

      NASA's Eyes is amazing! WOW! So far, after using it for 10 minutes, I've learned so many things! Let me list them for you: Neptune has a moon called Nereid that is in a highly elliptical orbit. All of the planets orbit in a horizontal plane around the sun, except for Pluto. It orbits with like a 35 degree tilt to the rest of the planets. Voyager 1&2 and Pioneer 10&11 aren't going to see anything interesting for a very long time. Jupiters moons orbit in the same horizontal plane as Jupiter as well as the rest of the planets, but Saturn's moons are all orbiting on a separate plane at the same angle as its rings. Cassini orbits between Rhea and Titan at like a 75 degree angle to the plane of the solar system. New Horizons is covered in gold foil and looks like its defending our solar system by aiming an ion cannon at the aliens. Juno is beginning what looks like is going to be an EXTREMELY elliptical orbit. Very cool app.

      [–]jeebusfish 73 points74 points  (11 children)

      What's the next major milestone for Juno? When will the first significant results be available?

      [–]frozencrazytuna 82 points83 points  (10 children)

      I believe the first scientific analysis of Jupiter will be at the end of August, the 27th if I remember correctly, after Juno finishes its first 53(?) day orbit of Jupiter. Yesterday to get into orbit all of the science equipment was turned off so the end of August is when we should see the first results of this mission.

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 111 points112 points  (9 children)

      Correct! One minor clarification we've already taken some data and images during approach and will take data as soon as instruments turn. The first close-in images/data will be after Aug. 27th. -- JRE

      [–]Chimp-man-zee 131 points132 points  (6 children)

      Can you just take a few snap shots for me and PM my inbox. I'm really impatient.

      [–]nebukatze 72 points73 points  (3 children)

      Does anything (technology) exists today you wish Juno would have it on board right now, but wasn't available when you planned or even build the probe? Thanks for the AMA and your genius work with Juno!

      [–]wazooman2 70 points71 points  (19 children)

      Congrats guys! What would be the most groundbreaking thing that Juno could find now that it's reached Jupiter?

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 156 points157 points  (10 children)

      The standard answer would be the structure and composition of the interior of the planet. But in reality it would be something utterly unexpected. - Glenn Orton

      [–]frozencrazytuna 13 points14 points  (4 children)

      From their livestream yesterday they talked about how the amount of water that makes up Jupiter may be the most important piece of data they receive because that data can help determine where Jupiter was formed among other things

      [–]peteroh9 6 points7 points  (0 children)

      Like how I got a question wrong in a planetary atmospheres class because we don't technically know that Jupiter has water in its atmosphere even though we know it has to have water!

      [–]NewlyListed 109 points110 points  (16 children)

      Have you and your team been working on other projects in the last five years while it's been on its journey, or has it required constant monitoring and action over the time?

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 181 points182 points  (1 child)

      For myself, I've definitely been working on other projects. My formal time, averaged through the year, is 30% of my total professional time. I'm also a co-investigator on Cassini, as well as the Outer Planet Atmospheric Legacy (OPAL) program imaging the outer solar system annually with Hubble Space Telescope, and my own ground-based programs for infrared spectroscopy and imaging of Saturn (for Cassini support) and Jupiter (for Juno support). -Glenn Orton

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 151 points152 points  (12 children)

      Many of us work on more than one project. I (JRE) have been working on the MAVEN mission for example. --JRE

      [–]TheRiddler888 19 points20 points  (10 children)

      Whats the maven mission

      [–]SonofRohan 56 points57 points  (1 child)

      The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission

      sending space probe to Mars

      [–]flokkuthra 19 points20 points  (0 children)

      The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission. It's a probe in orbit around Mars to measure its atmosphere, launched in 2013

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 114 points115 points  (0 children)

      I spend most of my time on Juno, but I also help out with the Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope project (http://galileo.gavrt.org) for a few hours each week. -Steve Levin

      [–]hatsugan 46 points47 points  (6 children)

      Hey! Amazing work, congratulations! I know Juno will be deorbitted when it's done its mission bc of planetary protection, but if it were to be left in its science orbit, how long would it take to decay? Also, I am curious, how long did it take to develop the Juno mission?

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 61 points62 points  (2 children)

      It's literally unknown how long the orbit decay might take given the uncertainties we have about atmospheric densities. Could be years. Likely the radiation would kill most things well before that. Development time = 5+ years. --JRE

      [–]loki74 41 points42 points  (16 children)

      Why were solar panels used instead of nuclear power for Juno?

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 89 points90 points  (15 children)

      We did not have a viable nuclear power option available to us at the time we were preparing the Juno proposal. So the focus shifted to how to make solar work at Jupiter. Way back in 2004, the team completed some LILT (low intensity, low temperature) and radiation testing on the commercial solar cells to confirm that they would provide enough power for Juno to operate on at Jupiter, where we see only 1/25 of the sunlight that we see at Earth. Rick

      [–]Riendew 83 points84 points  (6 children)

      I've read that Jupiter can shed a lot of light on the creation of our solar system. I understand that we think Jupiter was among the first planets to form, could you elaborate on what we could learn about Earth with new information we may obtain?
      Thanks so much for doing this AMA.

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 106 points107 points  (4 children)

      Our understanding of how solar systems form is in some chaos (pun intended) due to all the exoplanets we're finding. Understanding when and where Jupiter formed (e.g. by looking at the water abundances) will help us understand when and where Earth formed with respect to our Sun. -- JRE

      [–]MikeCian 40 points41 points  (9 children)

      Does Jupiter's massive gravitational pull make it more difficult to keep a probe in orbit?

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 108 points109 points  (8 children)

      Actually, Jupiters massive gravitational pull helps to keep our probe in orbit. When we fired our main engine last night, we were moving at 54.1 km/sec. After firing our main engine, we were moving away from Jupiter at 53.7 km/sec. That's still really fast! But that really small decrease in orbital speed was enough to put us into a 53 day orbit (instead of a Jupiter flyby). Jupiter's pull is so strong, it would be very challenging now to get out of orbit. This wasn't what I initially expected when the navigators explained to me but it does help demonstrate how different things are when you are around such a massive planet. Rick

      [–]PostPostModernism 20 points21 points  (1 child)

      Speaking of navigators (if you come back for more questions) - how does a flight profile like JUNOs get planned? Did someone come up with the idea to use the Earth, and then you figured out the timings from there? Do you have a supercomputer brute-force all the possibilities to find the best one?

      [–]elakdawalla 70 points71 points  (15 children)

      During the broadcast last night, you only had "tones," no detailed telemetry. What have you learned since last night about how the spacecraft performed? Fuel used? Orbit achieved? And do you have any devices to monitor the "radiation health" of the spacecraft or do you just depend on the science instruments for that?

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 98 points99 points  (13 children)

      We haven't used any fuel reserves (either last night or previously). Our previous TCM was canceled because we were so on target. The orbit achieved 53.5 days (no one at the table had more decimal places). For radiation monitoring we'll use the data from many of the science instruments (e.g. effects on JunoCam, SRUs, ASC images and extrapolation from JEDI energy spectra). --JRE

      [–]Froguy1126 30 points31 points  (5 children)

      Not a question about the mission as much as it is about the scientists here:

      What kind of education did you guys receive, how many years of schooling? What majors? Etc.

      Thanks for this AMA, I'm enjoying it immensely. I'm super interested in astronomy but I'm only in high school right now. Investing in an Orion XT8 to start my amateur astronomy hobby and I'm interested in what it takes to be one of the big guys at NASA. Seriously you guys are my idols :)

      Thanks again for the responses!

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 48 points49 points  (3 children)

      I went to U.C. Berkeley and majored in physics, then went there for grad school as well and got a PhD in physics.

      Math is the language of science, so you should definitely study math if you're interested in any kind of science. Other than that, I suggest you follow your passion, and learn as much as you can about whatever interests you. There is a place at NASA for virtually every type of job you can imagine, so just find something you love and try to be the absolute best at it. -Steve Levin

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 37 points38 points  (0 children)

      I have a Ph.D. in Planetary Physics - lots of years. My advice is take lots of math classes! CJH

      [–]floppy_penguin 28 points29 points  (7 children)

      Is there any plan to add live streaming, 360 degree cameras to future probes?

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 47 points48 points  (6 children)

      Live streaming isn't technically possible, given the amount of time it takes for a data signal to travel back to Earth. As for 360's, we have panorama cameras that can take images to be stitched into 360's already in action on Mars. (Check out one of them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME_T4B1rxCg and learn more here: http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/instruments/cameras/mastcam/) As for future missions, the cameras on board would depend on the mission requirements. - JT

      [–]TheOnlyPorcupine 53 points54 points  (33 children)

      What is the plan for Juno after the ship has completed its 'mission'?

      [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 127 points128 points  (32 children)

      Default plan is to purposefully crash into Jupiter about when we expect the electronics to start failing. We'll do this to avoid possibly accidentally contaminating Europa which might have liquid water (and life??). There are plans under consideration, pending operations results, that would allow Juno to stay in an orbit that would eventually crash "naturally" into the planet after potentially more orbits. --JRE

      [–]pipsdontsqueak 44 points45 points  (17 children)

      Crazy random question, what if Jupiter has life among the gaseous clouds that then gets contaminated by Juno? Far more negligible risk?

      [–]NoahFect 70 points71 points  (8 children)

      It's hard to exaggerate how hostile that environment is. Probably second only to the surface of the sun, when it comes to places where you wouldn't expect to do any harm by crashing a spacecraft.

      [–]crunkDealer 145 points146 points  (7 children)

      Inb4 the crashing Juno awakens the ancient genocidal robots hibernating on Jupiter

      [–]Clear_Runway 10 points11 points  (1 child)

      even if there was life in Jupiter itself, no way is anything from that probe surviving a reentry at the speeds we're talking about. it'll be vaporized.

      [–]TheOnlyPorcupine 12 points13 points  (2 children)

      Lovely. How long do you expect it take for the craft to deteriorate?

      A big congratulations, by the way. I'm glad there are people out there willing to dedicate their lives to one of the most important parts of human existence; discovery :)

      [–]Travissimo78 93 points94 points  (37 children)

      I notice that the camera sensor is only expected to last a few months (I'm a photographer). Why is this and what sensor is in there: CMOS, CCD, other? What lengths did you go to slow the degradation without losing image quality?

      [–]inhibala 84 points85 points  (13 children)

      IIRC the camera sensor will last only a few months because of harmful radiation from Jupiter.

      [–][deleted]  (12 children)

      [deleted]

        [–]chew_toyt 17 points18 points  (5 children)

        How come Jupiter is so radioactive?

        [–]Brekkjern 17 points18 points  (1 child)

        This is a good short writeup of why: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetosphere_of_Jupiter#Jupiter_as_a_pulsar

        In short, Jupiter is a weak radio pulsar. This attribute is most common to stars, but Jupiter accomplishes this with strong currents in its magnetosphere.

        [–][deleted]  (17 children)

        [deleted]

          [–]FaxMachineMode 25 points26 points  (3 children)

          Will Juno be able to study the compositions of any of Jupiters moons?

          [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 49 points50 points  (2 children)

          The focus of Juno is the interior of Jupiter. JunoCam, the education/public outreach camera, will image the satellites during the course of the mission, but at lower resolution than Voyager, Galileo, or New Horizons. That said, the composition of Jupiter will be an important consideration for future missions, such as the future Europa mission to unravel the complete story about Jupiter's formation. -Glenn Orton

          [–]alexrocks97 23 points24 points  (1 child)

          congrats! Just want to ask what is the most nerve wracking part of a mission like this?

          [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 58 points59 points  (0 children)

          For me, launch was the most nerve-wracking part of Juno so far. The Juno spacecraft is the culmination of years of hard work by hundreds of people, and we put it on top of a giant tower of explosive to hurtle it into space. That was just a little scary. After that, JOI was the next most nerve-wracking time, because of the all the unknowns about entering a new environment and performing a critical maneuver at the same time. -Steve Levin

          [–]nutellahotchocolate 47 points48 points  (5 children)

          What's the most exciting discovery Juno can make in its proximity to Jupiter?

          [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 104 points105 points  (2 children)

          The most exciting discovery would be a surprise that we haven't thought of yet! We're exploring new territory, so we may find something brand new. We come to Jupiter looking for clues to its origin and interior, such as the water abundance and the size of it's inner core and ocean of metallic hydrogen. We hope to learn about it's giant magnetosphere and the enormous aurora in the north and south. All of those are fascinating and exciting possibilities, but it would be even more exciting if Jupiter surprises with something completely new. -Steve Levin

          [–]GatoAmarillo 22 points23 points  (1 child)

          After the mission is completed will we know for certain whether or not Jupiter has a solid core?

          Also, are there any plans for Juno to retrieve information from any of the moons?

          [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 33 points34 points  (0 children)

          We expect that we will know whether the center of Jupiter has a core, if you define that as a concentration of heavy elements, not necessarily "rocks". There will be images of the satellites, but none will be at better resolution than Voyager or Galileo images. -Glenn Orton

          [–]4n4yhack 24 points25 points  (7 children)

          How does titanium protect from radiation? How heavy is Juno?

          [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 58 points59 points  (6 children)

          Titanium is a much denser metal than what we usually use (aluminum) and it offers a protection factor of 800:1 inside the titanium vault. So, we can place our critical electronics inside the vault and they see the same environment we would see at Mars (25 rad at Mars instead of 20 Mrad at Jupiter). Many of our electronics were actually used on some previous Mars missions.

          As far as weight goes, Juno weighed 3625 kgs at launch - roughly half of that is was propellant (fuel and oxidizer). We used roughly 60% of that fuel to date (with one more main engine burn to go.....3 down, one to go).

          Rick

          [–]_CitationX 42 points43 points  (10 children)

          Hey, mad congratulations to you guys! Just wondering, what kind of fuel is used on the craft and if applicable, how much is carried? Thanks guys, and good luck for the future!

          [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 50 points51 points  (9 children)

          Thanks! Here's the nitty gritty on fuel. You can find out more facts like this in the interactive press kit. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press_kits/juno/

          At the beginning of the Jupiter Orbit Insertion burn, Juno carries about 1,232 kilograms of fuel (810 kilograms of hydrazine and 422 kilograms of oxidizer). At the end of a nominal 35 minutes Jupiter Orbit Insertion burn, Juno will have burned about 447 kilograms of fuel (241 kilograms of hydrazine and 206 kilograms of oxidizer).

          -- SLS

          [–]Froguy1126 19 points20 points  (10 children)

          What kind of radiation protection do the electronics on Juno have? Essentially, what is that electronics vault made of that stops the radiation? How effective is it?

          [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 43 points44 points  (9 children)

          The predominant protection is the titanium vault that houses our critical electronics - the "brains" of the spacecraft. This vault has walls up to 1/2 inch thick and weighs approx. 400 lbs empty. The vault reduces the radiation these electronics are exposed to over the life of the mission from 20,000,000 rad to 25,000 rad and allows us to survive the full 16 months of our science mission. External sensors are outside the vault and have a side wall of tantalum or tungsten to provide them sufficient shielding to operate for our 16 month science mission. Rick

          [–]Froguy1126 25 points26 points  (6 children)

          If it stops radiation from getting in, how does it communicate with earth using EM radiation (radio)?

          [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 74 points75 points  (4 children)

          The antennas that we use for communications are outside the vault. But the radios themselves are inside the vault. So, the radios are protected and the antennas are not (but passive antennas built with graphite epoxy and aluminum honeycomb are fairly impervious to radiation (unlike electronic parts). Rick

          [–]guniu 15 points16 points  (3 children)

          So how long will it take for Juno to make a full orbit? I'm really curious about that.

          [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 31 points32 points  (1 child)

          We'll start in a 53-day orbit and after we check things out we'll be lowering the orbit to a 14-day orbit which will be our main science orbit. -JRE

          [–]mja2014 14 points15 points  (3 children)

          Geology major here, what do you expect Jupiter's core composition to be? Mainly layers of metal and rock (iron)? Also how are the job prospects looking for a geologist at NASA?

          [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 41 points42 points  (0 children)

          Central core of "heavy" stuff (not helium and hydrogen)? Then layer of liquid metallic hydrogen? Then thick layers of increasingly denser hydrogen? Then the clouds we can see. NASA definitely does hire geologists. -- JRE

          [–]elgigantesr 29 points30 points  (11 children)

          First of all, congratulations! Quick dumb question, Why the name Juno? Any significance or story behind it, or was it basically assigned/ just sounded cool. Again, you guys rock, congratulations!

          [–]HueyBosco 101 points102 points  (5 children)

          In case people don't feel like clicking through links:

          Jupiter is named after the Roman god and many of its moons (discovered since the early 1600's by Galileo and Marius) have taken the names of his mistresses.

          According to the mythology, Jupiter would use clouds to shroud his affairs in secrecy from his wife, Juno, but she was able to peer through them.

          So, essentially, this was a really nerdy naming joke by scientists that has been in the works for 400 years.

          [–]Riendew 30 points31 points  (2 children)

          [–]elgigantesr 18 points19 points  (0 children)

          Holy crap! that's actually super cool! thanks for the link!

          [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 32 points33 points  (0 children)

          If you feel like watching instead of reading, we also have a video that explains the significance of Juno's name. (Hint: It's not an acronym.) https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/media-gallery/interviews?show=fig_562e2fa248b496f704cf3db6&m=204

          -- SLS

          [–]colinza 15 points16 points  (2 children)

          Do you have to account for relativity when remotely manoeuvring the ship in Jupiters strong gravity field, and if so how?

          [–]WiglyWorm 25 points26 points  (2 children)

          From the Juno mission page:

          For Juno, like NASA’s earlier Pioneer spacecraft, spinning makes the spacecraft's pointing extremely stable and easy to control

          This makes me wonder why NASA has categorically refused to create a spinning manned craft for deep space missions? It seems like it would solve so many of the problems confronting manned space exploration.

          [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 48 points49 points  (0 children)

          The difference between a spin-stabilized and a 3-axis stabilized spacecraft will depend on the objectives and the cost limitations. For detailed imaging, a 3-axis stabilized spacecraft is more stable, but more costly. For particle and field experiments, a spinning spacecraft is preferred because it can sense all directions in space. Adding humans, as a next step, would be immensely expensive, far more so than depicted in -say- "2001: A Space Odyssey" - Glenn Orton

          [–]Ye_Olde_Stone 32 points33 points  (3 children)

          I've heard that Earth's core and its magnetic field is what deflects radiation and makes it a hospitable environment. Is this true, and if so, is life impossible on planets that don't have magnetic fields?

          [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 56 points57 points  (2 children)

          Planetary magnetic fields (like Earth and Jupiter have) definitely do deflect some of the radiation would otherwise impact planetary surfaces. However, there is a very active debate about the overall effect of having (or not) a magnetic field on how life would develop (or not) on a planet. --JRE

          [–]MikeCian 11 points12 points  (1 child)

          With all of the radiation surrounding Jupiter, I know that your team had to take extreme measures to protect Juno. Hypothetically, how far would an astronaut in a standard space suit have to be from Jupiter to not be permanently damaged by this radiation?

          [–]jyu650 16 points17 points  (6 children)

          Congratulations!

          My questions is: How long will it take for the information from Juno to be sent back?

          [–]NASAJPLNASA[S] 32 points33 points  (5 children)

          A minimum of 48 minutes since that is how long it takes for the data sent from Juno to travel to Earth into our large ground based antennas and receivers. When we slow communications down significantly like we did last night, the amount of data accumulated on the spacecraft builds up and it can then takes hours for all of the data to be transmitted to the team on Earth. We are re-establishing "high rate" communications via our large "high gain" antenna today and expect to have all of our data from orbit insertion downlinked and reviewed by tomorrow. Rick

          [–]Lailu 12 points13 points  (3 children)

          What is the data transfer rate? How much actual data do you get in those 48 minutes? Kilobytes? Megabytes?