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Blue Dot 19: Juno And Jupiter

NASA

In Greco-Roman mythology, Juno was Jupiter's wife (and sister... hmm). Jupiter would shroud his behaviors in clouds, but Juno could part them and see what Jupiter was up to. Launched five years ago, NASA's Juno spacecraft will be lifting the veil on Jupiter when it enters Jovian orbit on the Fourth of July. 

The craft, the fastest thing ever built by humans, will gather data on the gas giant's magnetosphere, its gravity and its very composition. This data could help provide insight on many of the exoplanets we've so far discovered, as a great number of them appear compositionally similar to Jupiter. 

Dave Schlom is the longtime host and creator of Blue Dot. From surfing to Voyager in interstellar space, rock guitar to orcas in our imperiled oceans, the topics on Blue Dot are as varied as the host’s interests and connections -- which are pretty limitless! An internationally respected space history journalist, Dave is also deeply fascinated by all aspects of the grand workings of nature’s awesome machinery on scales ranging from galactic to subatomic. And topics take in all aspects of the arts and sciences.
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