Closing in on Jupiter's past.

Hand, Eric

The article reports on the Juno mission of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which aims to explore how the Jupiter was formed. It says that the essential part of the search is the inventory of oxygen which is isolated as water vapour in the planet's atmosphere. Furthermore, another key experiment of the Juno mission is to identify whether the planet has a core, which theorists say is necessary for the accretion of the hydrogen and helium gases present in the planet.

EXPLORATION of Jupiter; SPACE flight to Jupiter; ATMOSPHERE of Jupiter; UNITED States. National Aeronautics & Space Administration; OXYGEN; JUPITER (Planet)

Nature, 2011, Vol 476, Issue 7358, p13

0028-0836

Academic Journal

10.1038/476013a