Juno - Jupiter Orbiter Options

[Spaceflight101]

Hi,

Apparently the Earth flyby is scheduled for October 9, with a closest approach of 541 km. The lowest pass is currently scheduled to be over SW Australia, though that's subject to some fine tuning. It'll be at 1400 GMT, which would be about 11 pm Sydney time.

The info over at my site is preliminary from pre-launch data, the location and timing could be off. So, I guess this is based on the most-recent data:

Nav says closest approach will be near South Africa (no idea how firm this is, so don't book your travel yet).

NASA has given 560 Kilometers for the flyby altitude in a recent release, but I guess that is not set in stone until after the Inner Cruise 3 TCMs.

And a big thanks to Propguy for those insights, I asked NASA public affairs about the details of the DSM-1 issue, but that's a lost cause...

Propguy, is there any info on the potential DSM Clean-Up Maneuver and whether that is going to be needed? DSM-2 +10 days is the info I have, but that comes from the way early stage of mission planning...

Patrick

[mcaplinger]

So, I guess this is based on the most-recent data...

Latest SPICE file ftp://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/naif/JUNO/ker..._TCM5prelim.bsp shows perigee over South Africa.
Should get a reasonable view of the Americas on the inbound leg.

[Phil Stooke]

Maybe the Moon as well?

Phil

[propguy]

Propguy, is there any info on the potential DSM Clean-Up Maneuver and whether that is going to be needed? DSM-2 +10 days is the info I have, but that comes from the way early stage of mission planning...

Patrick

TCM5 is the makeup manuever for the two DSM burns. In a perfect scenario it would be zero and it would be cancelled, but we will be doing a fairly small, ~1.8 m/sec, burn on October 3.

[mcaplinger]

Maybe the Moon as well?

I haven't looked at this in detail yet, but I think the closest approach distance is around 200,000 km, so the Junocam view will not be that great (30 pixels or so.)

[propguy]

TCM5 was successfully completed today. Results are quick look but looks like hit required goal to within a few mm / sec. Now on track for Earth Fly By in October 2013.

[Mongo]

A possible new test of general relativity with Juno

The expansion in multipoles of the gravitational potential of a rotating body affects the orbital motion of a test particle orbiting it with long-term perturbations both at a classical and at a relativistic level. In this preliminary sensitivity analysis, we show that, for the first time, the J2 c^-2 effects could be measured by the ongoing Juno mission in the gravitational field of Jupiter during its yearlong science phase (10 November 2016-5 October 2017) thanks to its high eccentricity (e=0.947) and to the huge oblateness of Jupiter (J2=1.47 10^-2). The semi-major axis a and the perijove \omega\ of Juno are expected to be shifted by \Delta a =700-900 m and \Delta\omega = 50-60 milliarcseconds, respectively, over 1-2 yr. A numerical analysis shows also that the expected J2c^-2 range-rate signal for Juno should be as large as 280 microns per second during a typical 6 h pass at its closest approach. Independent analyses previously performed by other researchers about the measurability of the Lense-Thirring effect showed that the radio science apparatus of Juno should reach an accuracy in Doppler range-rate measurements of 1-5 microns per second over such passes.

[Astro0]

One for the Juno crowd