Getting Juno Spacecraft Into Jupiter's Orbit Was The 'Hardest Thing NASA Has Ever Done'

Published July 5, 2016 at 12:11 PM EDT

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In this NASA handout, From left to right, Jack Connerney, Juno deputy principal investigator and magnetometer lead co-investigator, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center; Chris Jones, associate director for flight projects and mission success, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL); Dr. Jim Green, Planetary Science Division Director, NASA; Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator, Southwest Research Institute; Geoff Yoder, acting Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, NASA; Michael Watkins, director, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL); and Rick Nybakken, Juno project manager, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL); celebrate with others on the Juno team after they received confirmation from the spacecraft that it had successfully completed the engine burn and entered orbit of Jupiter on July 4, 2016 in Pasadena, CA. (Photo by Aubrey Gemignani/NASA via Getty Images) (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Just before midnight Eastern time on July 4, scientists at NASA’s jet propulsion laboratory in Pasadena heard the words they’d been waiting for: “Juno, welcome to Jupiter.”

After five years in space, NASA’s Juno spacecraft entered Jupiter’s orbit, where it will remain for the next 20 months. Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson talks to Kelly Beatty, senior editor at Sky and Telescope Magazine, about what scientists are looking to learn from Juno’s mission to Jupiter, and why NASA’s Scott Bolton called getting the spacecraft into orbit “the hardest thing NASA has ever done.”

Listen to Jeremy Hobson’s conversation with Juno project scientist, Steven Levin, which aired Monday.

Guest

Kelly Beatty, senior editor, Sky and Telescope Magazine, @NightSkyGuy.