Juno’s Next Burn Rescheduled, Engine Valves Cease Normal Functions

NASA's space probe "Juno," which entered the orbit of Jupiter on July 4 this year, has been diagnosed with technical issues. This was recognized by a team of mission managers when they tried to send a command to the robotic probe ahead of the burn of its main rocket motor, Leros 1B engine, scheduled on Oct. 19.

According to a news released by NASA officials, two helium check valves that play an important role in the firing of the spacecraft's main engine did not operate as expected during a command sequence that was initiated. The project manager of "Juno" at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Rick Nybakken said, "The valves should have opened in a few seconds but it took several minutes. We need to better understand this issue before moving forward with the burn of the main engine."

The burn, called the Period Reduction Manoeuvre (PRM), is intended to reduce Juno's orbital period from 53.4 days to 14 days. Due to the dysfunctional valves, this burn has been postponed from its original schedule to December. NASA has reassured people that this shift in schedule will not affect any developments in science.

Juno collects data about Jupiter's gravity field, magnetic field, composition, and polar magnetosphere. This is most favorable when the space probe is closest to the planet. Scott Bolton, the Principal investigator of Juno was quoted saying, "The mission is very flexible that way. The data we collected during our first flyby on August 27, this year was a revelation and I fully anticipate a similar result from Juno's October 19 flyby."

Reports by ArsTechnica suggest that if the length of the orbital period cannot be reduced, then the spacecraft will not be able to make as many flybys as scientists hoped due to the expected degradation of the spacecraft and its scientific instruments as it flies through the harsh environments of Jupiter. NASA hopes that Juno will make 36 orbits during the next 20 months.