New Reports from NASA Show Jupiter from Underneath
Humankind now has a new view of the biggest planet in the solar system. On February 22nd, the California Institute of Technology’s NASA labs released a set of intriguing photographs of the planet Jupiter at an angle that humanity has never seen before. Caltech’s NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory took responsibility for showing us all what the planet looks like from underneath when they wrote the report “Time-lapse Sequence of Jupiter’s South Pole.”
Given that this lab’s purpose is to explore space through the use of robotic spacecraft, some of the credit for this monumental accomplishment must be shared with the robot in charge of taking these rare photos. More on that special robot later on in the article.
Examining the Underside of Jupiter
On February 23rd BRG, a credible news and commentary website featured on Google News, wrote an article breaking the story to many people around the globe for the first time. Science reporter Mike Wehner describes his impressions after seeing the photos. He describes the photos as “[containing] striking blue swirls twist[ing] in intricate patterns that look more like a painting than something we’d expect from an alien world…”
Meet the Robot Responsible
As mentioned earlier, NASA researchers at Caltech have done their job sharing the new pictures of Jupiter with the world, but getting these pictures in the first place is only possible because of the advanced robotic photographer that is drifting in deep space. The name of the robotic flying spacecraft is Juno, and it was able to send back these images only after taking 10 other flights around the enormous gaseous planet.
As mentioned in the BRG article, this spacecraft is nearing the end of its designated missions. It is nearly finished the missions that it was built to complete. However, it is still operational. There is a good chance that Juno will continue to send back data and statistics for researchers on Earth long after it has fulfilled its missions in outer space.
There are plenty of new and exciting discoveries happening regarding our galaxy. Thank you for taking the time to stay informed on this breaking news story. Be sure to look to the sky for more, and keep reading to learn more about our solar system.
References:
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA21979
