Where should NASA's Juno spacecraft aim its camera during its next
close pass of Jupiter on Feb. 2? You can now play a part in the
decision. For the first time, members of the public can vote to
participate in selecting all pictures to be taken of Jupiter during a
Juno flyby. Voting begins Thursday, Jan. 19 at 11 a.m. PST (2 p.m. EST)
and concludes on Jan. 23 at 9 a.m. PST (noon EST).
"We are looking forward to people visiting our website and becoming
part of the JunoCam imaging team," said Candy Hansen, Juno
co-investigator from the Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Arizona.
"It's up to the public to determine the best locations in Jupiter's
atmosphere for JunoCam to capture during this flyby."
NASA's JunoCam website can be visited at: https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam
The voting page for this flyby is available at:https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam/voting/
JunoCam will begin taking pictures as the spacecraft approaches
Jupiter's north pole. Two hours later, the imaging will conclude as the
spacecraft completes its close flyby, departing from below the gas
giant's south pole. Juno is currently on its fourth orbit around
Jupiter. It takes 53 days for Juno to complete one orbit.
"The pictures JunoCam can take depict a narrow swath of territory the
spacecraft flies over, so the points of interest imaged can provide a
great amount of detail," said Hansen. "They play a vital role in helping
the Juno science team establish what is going on in Jupiter's
atmosphere at any moment. We are looking forward to seeing what people
from outside the science team think is important."
There will be a new voting page for each upcoming flyby of the
mission. On each of the pages, several points of interest will be
highlighted that are known to come within the JunoCam field of view
during the next close approach. Each participant will get a limited
number of votes per orbit to devote to the points of interest he or she
wants imaged. After the flyby is complete, the raw images will be posted
to the JunoCam website, where the public can perform its own
processing.
"It is great to be able to share excitement and science from the Juno
mission with the public in this way," said Scott Bolton, Juno principal
investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.
"Amateur scientists, artists, students and whole classrooms are
providing the world with their unique perspectives of Jupiter. I am
really pleased that this website is having such a big impact and
allowing so many people to join the Juno science team. The public
involvement is really affecting how we look at the most massive
planetary inhabitant in our solar system."
During the Feb. 2 flyby, Juno will make its closest approach to
Jupiter at 4:58 a.m. PST (7:58 a.m. EST), when the spacecraft is about
2,700 miles (4,300 kilometers) above the planet's swirling clouds.
JunoCam is a color, visible-light camera designed to capture
remarkable pictures of Jupiter's poles and cloud tops. As Juno's eyes,
it will provide a wide view of Jupiter over the course of the mission,
helping to provide context for the spacecraft's other instruments.
JunoCam was included on the spacecraft primarily for public engagement
purposes, although its images also are helpful to the science team.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, manages the
Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of Southwest
Research Institute in San Antonio. The Juno mission is part of the New
Frontiers Program managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in
Huntsville, Alabama, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. Lockheed
Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft. JPL is a division of
Caltech in Pasadena, California.
More information on the Juno mission is available at: http://www.nasa.gov/juno - http://www.missionjuno.swri.edu
The public can follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at: http://www.facebook.com/NASAJuno - http://www.twitter.com/NASAJuno
News Media Contact
DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
agle@jpl.nasa.gov
Dwayne Brown / Laurie Cantillo
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726 / 202-358-1077
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov / laura.l.cantillo@nasa.gov
Source: JPL-Caltech
