Nearly five years ago, the Juno spacecraft launched its first orbit around Jupiter. Now space enthusiasts are able to share planetary images captured on their telescope with the online community at missionjuno.swri.edu. The images both reveal and confirm the truth of Psalm 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork.”
Image editor Kevin Gill recently shared a few stunning snapshots of Juno’s orbit around earth on its way to Jupiter. According to universetoday.com, Juno needed an extra speed boost to reach its course, and when the images of earth were taken, Juno was traveling at roughly 3.9 kilometers per second (about 8,800 mph).
(Photo: Images of Earth taken by the JunoCam on the Juno spacecraft during an Earth gravity assist flyby on Oct. 9, 2013. Credit: Flickr.com NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill.)
The collaboration between the Mission Juno website and the general public has sparked everyday citizens’ love for God’s amazing creation, as they are able to take the JunoCam photos from the website, download them and process them in creative ways.
JunoCam completed the closest flyby of Jupiter’s largest moon in more than two decades on June 7, 2021.
(Photo: Images of Earth taken by the JunoCam on the Juno spacecraft during an Earth gravity assist flyby on Oct. 9, 2013. Credit: Flickr.com NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill.)
“This is the closest any spacecraft has come to this mammoth moon in a generation,” said Juno principal investigator Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, per NASA. “We are going to take our time before we draw any scientific conclusions, but until then we can simply marvel at this celestial wonder.”
For photos processed by average space-lovers, visit the public processing forum here. Check out photographer Kevin Gill’s additional extraordinary work via his flickr.com page here. {eoa}
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