Jupiter’s southern hemisphere was captured by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA’s Juno orbiter on January 22, 2023, after the camera returned to normal following a glitch during a flyby. The image was acquired at an altitude of 77,507 miles (124,735 km) at a resolution of 52 miles (84 km) per pixel. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS
Engineering data is being reviewed to determine why most of the JunoCam images of the solar-powered orbiter were not acquired.
The JunoCam imager aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft did not capture all of the planned images during its most recent flyby of Jupiter’s orbit on Jan. 22. Data received from the spacecraft showed that the camera had a similar problem to its previous close pass. gas giant last month, when the team noticed an unusual rise in temperature after the camera was turned on in preparation for the flyby.
However, the problem persisted for longer on this new occasion (23 hours compared to 36 minutes during the December near-pass), leaving the first 214 JunoCam images planned for the flyby unusable. As in the previous case, after the anomaly causing the temperature rise was cleared, the camera returned to normal and the remaining 44 images were of good quality and usable.
The mission team is reviewing JunoCam engineering data acquired during two recent flybys — the mission’s 47th and 48th — and investigating the root cause of the anomaly and mitigation strategies. JunoCam will remain active for now and the camera will continue to operate in its nominal state.
JunoCam is a color, visible-light camera designed to take pictures of Jupiter’s cloud tops. It was added to the spacecraft specifically for public engagement purposes but has also proved important for science investigations. The camera was originally designed to operate in Jupiter’s high-energy particle atmosphere for at least seven orbits but has survived until now.
The spacecraft will make its 49th transit of Jupiter on March 1.
More about the mission
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Juno mission for principal investigator Scott J. Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA’s New Frontiers program, managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built and operates the spacecraft.
More information about Juno is available at: https://www.nasa.gov/juno and https://www.missionjuno.swri.edu