That means the spacecraft has finished re-orienting itself toward the Sun and is operating with solar power.
Where are the photos from the spacecraft? The cameras were switched off during the orbit insertion but Nasa promises great photos as it gets closer and closer to the planet.
11:50
Juno now orbiting Jupiter
AFP – NASA's unmanned Juno spacecraft on Monday began orbiting Jupiter, a key triumph for a $1.1 billion mission that aims to uncover the origins of the biggest planet in the solar system.
"Welcome to Jupiter," said a commentator at mission control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
The room erupted in cheers as the solar observatory successfully entered its aimed-for orbit around Jupiter at 11:53 pm (0353 GMT Tuesday).
The spacecraft has traveled 1.7 billion miles (2.7 billion kilometers) since it launched five years ago from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
"We are in it," hollered Scott Bolton, NASA's principal investigator.
"You are the best team ever," he told his colleagues at mission control.
"You just did the hardest thing NASA has ever done."
Juno's inaugural lap around the solar system's most massive planet – the fifth from the sun – will last 53 days. Subsequent orbits will be shorter, about two weeks each.
The first mission designed to see beneath Jupiter's clouds, Juno is named after the Roman goddess who was the wife of Jupiter, the god of the sky in ancient mythology.
The spacecraft orbits Jupiter from pole to pole, sampling its charged particles and magnetic fields for the first time and revealing more about the auroras in ultraviolet light that can be seen around the planet's polar regions.
Juno should circle the planet 37 times before finally making a death plunge in 2018, to prevent the spacecraft from causing damage to any of Jupiter's icy moons, which NASA hopes to explore one day for signs of life.
That means the spacecraft has finished re-orienting itself toward the Sun and is operating with solar power.Where are the photos from the spacecraft? The cameras were switched off during the orbit insertion but Nasa promises great photos as it gets closer and closer to the planet.11:50Juno now orbiting JupiterAFP – NASA's unmanned Juno spacecraft on Monday began orbiting Jupiter, a key triumph for a $1.1 billion mission that aims to uncover the origins of the biggest planet in the solar system. "Welcome to Jupiter," said a commentator at mission control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The room erupted in cheers as the solar observatory successfully entered its aimed-for orbit around Jupiter at 11:53 pm (0353 GMT Tuesday). The spacecraft has traveled 1.7 billion miles (2.7 billion kilometers) since it launched five years ago from Cape Canaveral, Florida. "We are in it," hollered Scott Bolton, NASA's principal investigator."You are the best team ever," he told his colleagues at mission control. "You just did the hardest thing NASA has ever done."Juno's inaugural lap around the solar system's most massive planet – the fifth from the sun – will last 53 days. Subsequent orbits will be shorter, about two weeks each. The first mission designed to see beneath Jupiter's clouds, Juno is named after the Roman goddess who was the wife of Jupiter, the god of the sky in ancient mythology. The spacecraft orbits Jupiter from pole to pole, sampling its charged particles and magnetic fields for the first time and revealing more about the auroras in ultraviolet light that can be seen around the planet's polar regions. Juno should circle the planet 37 times before finally making a death plunge in 2018, to prevent the spacecraft from causing damage to any of Jupiter's icy moons, which NASA hopes to explore one day for signs of life.
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