NASA has an incredible $1 Billion Spacecraft that flies around Jupiter, taking breathtaking photos with its JunoCam instrument traveling at speeds up to 130,000 mph. Juno, as it is called, is getting relatively close to the gas giant, capturing the images approximately every 53 days and sending them back to Earth – a process that can take days or sometimes weeks for NASA to receive.
Nevertheless, the pictures are always well worth the wait – as you can see for yourself in the latest batch featured below. The spectacular collection features hallucinatory clouds and storms, a swirling display of wonder. The researchers at NASA and the Southwest Research Institute are still trying to make sense of it all.
Since the space agency uploaded the image data to its websites in late December 2019, dozens of people have enthusiastically processed the black-and-white files into gorgeous, color pictures.
Sean Doran, a graphic artist who regularly processes NASA images, wrote in a tweet describing the new photos:
As pretty as a planet can get, but get too close and Jupiter will END YOU.
It took almost five years for the probe to reach Jupiter since NASA launched it in 2011. It has to fly in orbit around the planet, only briefly getting close to it from time to time to minimize exposing electronics to the planet’s harsh radiation fields.
The spacecraft is the only one that has ever flown below and above Jupiter’s poles. Unfortunately, NASA will eventually have to destroy Juno to prevent an accidental crash into Europa – Jupiter’s icy moon that may harbor an ocean and potentially alien life within it.
