What is JUNO Aircraft and it's work?

Juno is a NASA spacecraft that is going to Jupiter. Juno launched in 2011 and will arrive at Jupiter in 2016.

The spacecraft's name comes from Roman mythology. According to the myth, the god Jupiter would hide behind clouds. But his wife, the goddess Juno, could see through them. As in the story, the planet Jupiter is covered with clouds. The spacecraft Juno will help NASA learn about what the planet Jupiter is like behind the clouds.

How Will Juno Study Jupiter?
The Juno spacecraft launched aboard an Atlas V (Roman numeral 5) rocket on Aug. 5, 2011. It will reach Jupiter in 2016. The spacecraft will orbit Jupiter 32 times, coming within 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) above the tops of the planet's clouds. Juno will orbit closer to Jupiter than any spacecraft has before. It will orbit around Jupiter's poles for about one year.

Science instruments on board Juno will study Jupiter's atmosphere. They will use Jupiter's magnetic field, gravity field and naturally occurring radio waves to study the mysterious interior of the giant planet. Juno also will take the first pictures of Jupiter's polar regions and study the huge aurora that lights up Jupiter's north and south poles.

Juno will measure the amount of water and ammonia in Jupiter's atmosphere to help learn how giant planets formed. By making maps of Jupiter's gravitation and magnetic fields, Juno can determine the mass of Jupiter's core. Juno will learn about Jupiter's atmosphere under the clouds to understand Jupiter's structure. And Juno will sample the electrons and ions in Jupiter's magnetosphere to understand why the planet has the brightest auroras in the solar system.

Juno has three very large solar panels. The solar panels extend outward from Juno's six-sided body. The solar arrays measure approximately 2.65 meters wide by 8.9 meters long (about 9 feet wide by 29 feet long). The spacecraft and solar wings together span more than 20 meters (66 feet). Once in orbit, the three arrays will generate about 450 watts of electricity, which is about the same amount of electricity it takes to operate a computer.

SOURCE:http://www.nasa.gov/