美国航空航天局的太阳能航天器“朱诺号”已经为星期五前往木星的极具里程碑意义的发射升空作好准备。“朱诺号”此行的使命是进一步了解木星这个太阳系最大行星的起源和进化情况。
“朱诺号”无人探测器将从美国东南部佛罗里达州的卡纳维拉尔角搭载擎天神V551型火箭升空。预计，“朱诺号”将在2016年飞抵木星。
美国航空航天局说，在离开发射器几分钟后，“朱诺号”探测器将打开自己的巨型太阳能板。届时，太阳能板上的19000个太阳能电池将会充电，并成为朱诺六年多使命的能源来源。这次旅行的总行程将达到将近35亿公里。美国航空航天局以往的前往太阳系外部空间使命都是依靠核能。
美国航空航天局说，这个探测器将环绕木星飞行，并比以往任何航空器都更接近木星。在距离木星最近时，“朱诺号”将在这个巨大行星上空5千公里的高度飞行，非常接近木星上空浮动的厚云。木星是距离太阳第五远的行星，在火星和带有光环的土星之间运行。
除了了解有关木星大气层、核、强大的引力以及磁场之外，科学家们还希望“朱诺号”的使命能够揭开所谓“大红斑”之谜。“大红斑”是一个巨大的旋风暴，体积是地球的三倍，在木星上已经存在300多年。
NASA’s solar-powered Juno spacecraft is ready to blast off Friday on a landmark mission to Jupiter aimed gaining new insight into the origin and evolution of the solar system’s largest planet.
The unmanned U.S. space agency probe will launch aboard an Atlas V551 rocket ((Friday 1534 Universal Time/11:34 am Eastern time)) from Cape Canaveral in ((the southeastern U.S. state of)) Florida. Juno is scheduled to reach Jupiter in 2016.
But just minutes after it separates from the launch vehicle, NASA says Juno will begin opening its large solar arrays and begin powering up the nearly 19,000 solar cells that will be the spacecraft’s energy source for its more than six-year mission – a journey of nearly 3.5 billion kilometers. Previous NASA missions to the outer solar system relied on nuclear energy.
NASA says the probe will orbit around Jupiter’s poles and get closer to the planet than any spacecraft before it. At its nearest approach, Juno will fly a 5,000 kilometers above the gas giant, nearly skimming its dense, swirling cloud tops. Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun, orbiting between Mars and the ringed planet, Saturn.
In addition to learning more about Jupiter’s atmosphere, core, strong gravity and powerful magnetic field, scientists hope the Juno mission will unlock the mystery of the so-called Great Red Spot – an enormous cyclonic storm three times the size of the Earth that has raged on Jupiter for more than 300 years.