Latest Guides

Science and Technology

NASA Extends Missions for JPL-Managed Juno, InSight Space Probes

Panel finds missions to Juipter, Mars ‘produced exceptional science’

Published on Friday, January 8, 2021 | 10:49 am
 
NASA has extended both the Juno mission at Jupiter through September 2025 (left) and the InSight mission at Mars through December 2022. Image credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter and the InSight Lander studying the interior of Mars —both managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory — have each received mission extensions from NASA to continue their discoveries for years to some, JPL announced Friday.

A NASA independent review panel concluded that both missions have “’produced exceptional science’” and recommended NASA continue both missions,” JPL said in a written statement.

With the Juno mission at Jupiter exterderd for four years and the Mars InSight Lander mission extended for two years, NASA Planetary Science Division Director Lori Glaze said the agency was looking forward to additional scientific revelations from the space probes.

“The Senior Review has validated that these two planetary science missions are likely to continue to bring new discoveries, and produce new questions about our solar system,” she said.

Juno, which had previously been scheduled to end its mission with a dive into the Jovian atmosphere in July of 2021, has has its mission extended through September of 2025, or the end of the spacecraft’s life, according to NASA and JPL.

“The mission will not only continue key observations of Jupiter, but also will expand its investigations to the larger Jovian system including Jupiter’s rings and large moons, with targeted observations and close flybys planned of the moons Ganymede, Europa, and Io,” according to the JPL statement.

The Mars Insight Lander mission was extended for two years, now running through December of 2022. The instrument is largely focused on studying Marsquakes on the Red Planet, “and enhanced our knowledge of the planet’s atmospheric dynamics, magnetic field and interior structure,” the statement said. “InSight’s extended mission will focus on producing a long-duration, high quality seismic dataset.”

The full panel review can be found online at lpi.usra.edu/NASA-academies-resources/Final-Report-of-NASA-2020-Planetary-Mission-Senior-Review.pdf.

Get our daily Pasadena newspaper in your email box. Free.

Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.

Make a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 

 

 

buy ivermectin online
buy modafinil online
buy clomid online
buy ivermectin online