Pluto-bound spacecraft provides close-up look at Jupiter system
Posted: Wed, May 2, 2007, 8:45 AM ET (1245 GMT)
A Pluto-bound spacecraft that flew past Jupiter in late February has provided scientists with their first close-up look at an emerging storm in the giant planet's atmosphere, as well as other features of the planet and its rings and moons, project officials said Tuesday. New Horizons passed about 2.2 million kilometers from Jupiter on February 28, a flyby designed to give the spacecraft a gravity assist and put it on course for Pluto, as well as provide a "stress test" for the spacecraft's instruments and other systems. About 70 percent of the data collected during the lfyby has been transmitted back to Earth, including high-resolution images of the Little Red Spot, the planet's second-largest storm, which formed in the last decade with the merger of three smaller storms. Other data returned by New Horizons includes images of the Galileo moons Europa and Io. The spacecraft, launched in January 2006, will fly past Pluto in July 2015.
A Pluto-bound spacecraft that flew past Jupiter in late February has provided scientists with their first close-up look at an emerging storm in the giant planet's atmosphere, as well as other features of the planet and its rings and moons, project officials said Tuesday. New Horizons passed about 2.2 million kilometers from Jupiter on February 28, a flyby designed to give the spacecraft a gravity assist and put it on course for Pluto, as well as provide a "stress test" for the spacecraft's instruments and other systems. About 70 percent of the data collected during the lfyby has been transmitted back to Earth, including high-resolution images of the Little Red Spot, the planet's second-largest storm, which formed in the last decade with the merger of three smaller storms. Other data returned by New Horizons includes images of the Galileo moons Europa and Io. The spacecraft, launched in January 2006, will fly past Pluto in July 2015.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Friday, June 26
Firefly Aerospace Acquires Space-ng to Advance Future of Autonomous Space Operations
Firefly Aerospace — 6:50 am ET (1050 GMT) Firefly Buys AI Firm For Autonomous Space Ops
Aviation Week — 6:50 am ET (1050 GMT) ESA Seeks More Launchers For Demonstration Missions
Aviation Week — 6:49 am ET (1049 GMT) India removes local-sourcing rules for satellite internet, but ambiguity remains
livemint — 6:46 am ET (1046 GMT) Space Command’s top brass in Huntsville for strategic planning summit
256 Today — 6:46 am ET (1046 GMT) |
