Because every bit of added weight counts for a lot in spaceflight, the earliest Juno plans lacked a visual camera. It didnât need one to achieve its scientific objectives. But Candice Hansen-Koharcheck, a Juno team member and a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Ariz., recalls Bolton saying: âWe canât fly to Jupiter without a camera.â The mission may be all about sensing whatâs below those clouds. But who doesnât want to catch a glimpse of alien hurricanes and vaporous whirlpools, too? JunoCam, led by Hansen-Koharcheck, was added to the payload.
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The scientists were also glad theyâd packed that camera. The moment Juno opened its eyes, it witnessed a parade of colors rushing about with unrelenting force. The ever-changing landscapes werenât just painterly. âTheyâre like works of art,â says Boltonâimpressionistic-looking spirals and streams, folding, arching and blooming in full view. Juno may be a scientific mission, but it also revealed Jupiter as a living van Gogh painting hanging in the sky.
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The JIRAM image of the northern circumpolar cyclones resembled a âbeautiful, gigantic jack-oâ-lantern in space,â Becker says. These geometric storms didnât just look strikingâthey had no precedent. âThe first time we saw the storms, I was with a bunch of people from the science team,â Levin says. âSomebody literally said: âAre you sure you got the right planet?â And they were only half joking.â
The whole article is great; an interesting read paired with some gorgeous images.