Juno Makes History with 1.7-Billion-Mile Odyssey into Jupiter's Orbit

Pasadena, CA — Forget the fireworks, the most exciting Fourth of July show in the universe happened 1.7 billion miles away where NASA's Juno spacecraft completed its five-year journey into Jupiter's orbit.

The $1.1 billion historic mission by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena survived a critical test Monday night when it burned its main engine in order to slow to 1,200 mph to be captured by Jupiter's orbit, according to NASA.

Mission Control Room in Pasadena exploded in cheers Monday as a voice over the intercom announced the historic moment: "Juno, welcome to Jupiter."

“NASA, did it again,” shouted Juno Principal Investigator Scott Bolton with fists raised in the air.

After surviving the 35-minute burn-off into Jupiter’s orbit, Juno’s nearly 20,000 solar panels shifted toward the sun to boost its energy.

"The spacecraft worked perfectly, which is always nice when you're driving a vehicle with 1.7 billion miles on the odometer," Juno project manager Rick Nybakken said.

“It’s overwhelming, the team, the amount of time and effort everyone put into this, and the risks that were overcome, it’s amazing. I mean, the more you know about the mission, you know just how tricky this was, and to have it be flawless, I really can’t put it into words,” added Diane Brown, NASA’s Juno program executive. "To know we can all go to bed tonight, not worrying about what’s going to happen tomorrow, it’s pretty awesome.”

Juno launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in August 2011, hurtling thousands of miles per hour through space to arrive in Jupiter’s orbit within a minute of its projected arrival time. Scientists believe it will give them a glimpse into the origins of the solar system as well as an understanding of the massive, largely mysterious planet.

By the end of the mission, scientists hope to know if the gaseous planet has a solid core. Gas giants such as Jupiter are common in the universe, and scientists believe they are formed from a rocky core that gathers dust and gas that wasn't consumed by the central star, such as the sun, according to NASA.

Over the next 20 months, Juno will collect data on the moisture content in Juno’s atmosphere as well as the planet’s gravity and magnetic field. Jupiter's magnetosphere is the largest structure in the universe - five times the distance between the Earth and sun, according to JPL.

Juno will complete its historic mission by plunging into the planet. Scientists believe Jupiter's icy moon Europa has a subsurface ocean that might harbor life and want to eliminate the chance it might get contaminated with microbes from earth should the probe crash into it.

Juno's mission was also designed to be interactive. The probe is carrying a high-definition camera called JunoCam to take pictures of Jupiter, and the public may vote on what the probe takes pictures of and NASA will point the camera to the location with the most votes. Click here to be a part of that discussion.

While making history, Juno also pays homage to history, featuring an image of Galileo Galilei, the founding father of astronomy who discovered the moons orbiting Jupiter. Juno also carries images of the Roman god, Jupiter, and his wife, Juno.