Posted on Tuesday, October 08, 2013
The Juno spacecraft that was launched on August 5, 2011 will make a close flyby of Earth on October 9th in order to boost its speed with the gravitational assist of the Earth. It will come as close as around 560km from the Earth's surface (for comparison the ISS is at an altitude of around 330 - 410km)
After the flyby Juno will we on its way to Jupiter to study the composition, gravity field, magnetic field, and polar magnetosphere, as it will be in a polar orbit.
After the flyby Juno will we on its way to Jupiter to study the composition, gravity field, magnetic field, and polar magnetosphere, as it will be in a polar orbit.