NASA’s Juno team assessing camera after 48th flyby of Jupiter

Engineering information is being evaluated to find out why nearly all of photos taken by the solar-powered orbiter’s JunoCam weren’t acquired.

The JunoCam imager aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft didn’t purchase all deliberate photos through the orbiter’s most up-to-date flyby of Jupiter on Jan. 22. Knowledge acquired from the spacecraft signifies that the digicam skilled a problem much like one which occurred on its earlier shut cross of the gas giant final month, when the group noticed an anomalous temperature rise after the digicam was powered on in preparation for the flyby.

Nonetheless, on this new event the problem endured for an extended time period (23 hours in comparison with 36 minutes through the December shut cross), leaving the primary 214 JunoCam photos deliberate for the flyby unusable. As with the earlier incidence, as soon as the anomaly that induced the temperature rise cleared, the digicam returned to regular operation and the remaining 44 photos had been of fine high quality and usable.

The mission group is evaluating JunoCam engineering information acquired through the two latest flybys—the forty seventh and Forty eighth of the mission—and is investigating the foundation reason for the anomaly and mitigation methods. JunoCam will stay powered on in the meanwhile and the digicam continues to function in its nominal state.

JunoCam is a colour, visible-light digicam designed to seize footage of Jupiter’s cloud tops. It was included on the spacecraft particularly for functions of public engagement however has confirmed to be essential for science investigations additionally. The camera was initially designed to function in Jupiter’s high-energy particle surroundings for at the least seven orbits however has survived far longer.

The spacecraft will make its forty ninth cross of Jupiter on March 1.