Juno Spacecraft Successfully Orbiting Jupiter

By Barry Eitel

SAN FRANCISCO (AA) – NASA's Juno spacecraft is securely in orbit around Jupiter after spending almost five years traveling through space, the space agency announced late Monday.

The news came shortly before midnight (0400GMT) on the east coast of the U.S. and followed a harrowing 35-minute period where the team behind the mission was uncertain if the spacecraft would survive.

During that time, the craft's main engines fired in order to slow the vehicle and place it into orbit around Jupiter. Juno will now observe the planet more closely than any previous spacecraft.

"This is phenomenal," Geoff Yoder, acting administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement soon after the news.

The team was waiting for a series of tones signaling Juno after the main engines were fired. The tones came around 11: 50 p.m. EST (0350GMT) as NASA workers exploded in celebration.

As Juno came into Jupiter's orbit, the team was concerned about the planet's intense radiation fields and large collections of orbiting debris.

"Success!" NASA claimed in a tweet. "Engine burn complete. Juno is now orbiting Jupiter, poised to unlock the planet's secrets."

Juno was launched in 2011. It is the first probe to orbit Jupiter since the Galileo craft reached the planet in 2003. Galileo eventually crashed into the planet's surface.

Juno is slated to orbit Jupiter 37 times with each completing lasting 53 days.

During the orbit the craft will collect crucial information as it swoops through Jupiter's gaseous atmosphere.

"Juno is going into the scariest part of the scariest place," according to Heidi Becker of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory -- the team that monitors how radiation is affecting the craft.

NASA now looks ahead to Aug. 27, when Juno will complete one of its initial orbits of the planet with all of its instruments operating.