The Juno spacecraft, launched by NASA in 2011, and entering the orbit of Jupiter, the solar system’s largest planet in 2016, will not approach the gas giant Jupiter due to some glitches in its engine.¹ According to the NASA statement, some of the engines of the spacecraft failed to respond properly to commands sent from Earth and put $1.1 billion mission in danger. In order to avoid any financial loss, NASA has decided to stop Juno approaching the Jupiter.
Juno is now in the outer orbit of Jupiter and driving around the gas giant every 53.4 days. If NASA was decided to fire Juno’s engines once again and continue its mission, the spacecraft would get closer to Jupiter and turn around the gas planet Jupiter only every 14 days. That would certainly make things easier for NASA.
Scientists have expressed that Juno can continue to study and send data back to us by staying at the same location as it is now. By staying away from Jupiter, the spacecraft will be protected from the planet’s high radiation level and will be able to closely examine the interaction of the Jovian magnetosphere, including Jupiter, with the solar wind.