NASA's Jupiter Mission Reveals the "Brand-New and Unexpected"

Catie Burnell

Mr. Ippolito

Core Biology Honors

May 30, 2017

NASA’s Jupiter Mission Reveals the “Brand-New and Unexpected”

I recently read the article “NASA’s Jupiter Mission Reveals the ‘Brand-New and Unexpected’” by Kenneth Chang of The New York Times. The article details NASA’s Juno mission on Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, that began in July of last year. The mission has yielded some impressive results - NASA found that “The planet’s interior core appears bigger than expected, and swirling electric currents are generating surprisingly strong magnetic fields. Auroral lights shining in Jupiter’s polar regions seem to operate in a reverse way to those on Earth… a belt of ammonia may be rising around the planet’s equator” (Chang 2017). Many photos taken in the mission have also been relayed back to Earth, further proving this new information. These findings come to the surprise of many NASA scientists, such as the principal investigator of the mission Dr. Scott J. Bolton, who said, “We’re seeing a lot of our ideas were incorrect and maybe naïve” (Chang 2017). A microwave instrument used in the mission detected a band of ammonia in the equatorial region of the planet, a feature that Dr. Bolton described as “startling… brand-new and unexpected.” The mission also studied the gravitational field of Jupiter in hopes of finding the composition of the core of the planet, a topic which had been largely debated. “Some predicted a rocky core… Others expected no rocky core, but hydrogen, the planet’s main constituent, all the way down. ‘Most scientists were in one camp or the other,’ Dr. Bolton said, ‘and what we found is neither is true.’ Instead, the data suggests a ‘fuzzy core,’ one that is larger than expected... perhaps partly dissolved” (Chang 2017). NASA has also found that the magnetic field of Jupiter is much more complex than scientists predicted, with some areas having a much stronger magnetic field than others. However, gaining these findings was no easy feat - “Juno takes 53 days to loop around Jupiter in a highly elliptical orbit, but most of the data gathering occurs in two-hour bursts when it accelerates to 129,000 miles an hour and dives to within about 2,600 miles of the cloud tops” (Chang 2017) Nevertheless, the discoveries made by the Juno mission have provided NASA and astronomical organizations globally with vital information about an important planet in our solar system.

This article is relevant to science today because of the push to learn more about planets in our solar system and beyond due to climate change, which is slowly turning Earth into an uninhabitable planet. Additionally, the information made by the Juno mission is vital to astronomers because not much was known previously about the planet and the findings detailed in this article show that many scientists were incorrect in their predictions about Jupiter.

Chang’s article was overall well-written. The quotes from Dr. Bolton were very helpful in receiving first-hand information from someone directly involved in the Juno mission, and the photos also included in the article were very interesting. However, I felt that the amount of information in the article was at times overwhelming and could have been simplified. On the other hand, Chang did have to detail findings from several journals, so having an article so full of information was inevitable. This article was very interesting and an enjoyable read.

Chang, Kenneth. "NASA’s Jupiter Mission Reveals the ‘Brand-New and Unexpected’." The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 May 2017. Web. 29 May 2017.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/25/science/nasa-juno-spacecraft-jupiter-storms.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&_r=0&module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Science&action=keypress&region=FixedLeft&pgtype=article