NASA recreates iconic time lapse footage of Juno spacecraft 'flying' over Jupiter

On October 10, NASA shared footage that compiled the images from its Juno mission in which the spacecraft performed its 27th close flyby of Jupiter on June 2. Taking to its official Twitter handle, NASA asked the space buffs to check out what it might have looked like to “fly” over Jupiter. “During the spacecraft's closest approach on June 2, 2020, it came within ~2,100 miles (~3,400 kilometers) of the gas giant’s cloud tops,” NASA said. 

NASA reconstructed the iconic flyover using approximately 2,703 still frames in a 125-fold time-lapse. In the footage, the Juno spacecraft came within approximately 2,100 miles (3,400 kilometers) to Jupiter’s cloud tops, as it accelerated to near the giant planet at about 130,000 mph (209,000 kilometers per hour). The video was compiled by citizen scientist Kevin M. Gill, NASA informed in the release, adding, that the scientist compiled almost 41 JunoCam still images and then digitally projected onto a sphere. “The original JunoCam images were taken on June 2, 2020, between 2:47 a.m. PDT (5:47 a.m. EDT) and 4:25 a.m. PDT (7:25 a.m. EDT),” NASA said in the release. 

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Juno’s gathers info on planet formation

In NASA’s Juno mission the spacecraft rode to the Jupiter with 27th close flybys on June 2, 2020. According to NASA, Juno’s aim was to gather more information about the planet’s formation and evolution using long term technologies installed on the spinning spacecraft that entered the elliptical polar orbit of Jupiter. “Juno would observe Jupiter's gravity and magnetic fields, atmospheric dynamics and composition, and evolution,” astronomers said in a press release. The mission was launched in August 5, 2011, and will end July 2021. “An additional 41 months in orbit around Jupiter and will enable Juno to achieve its primary science objectives,” NASA said. 

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(Image Credit: NASA)