Posted: Thu, Jun 2, 2005, 8:32 AM ET (1232 GMT)
NASA has selected a Jupiter orbiter mission as the next mission in its New Frontiers program, the agency announced Wednesday. The Juno spacecraft will fly around Jupiter in a polar orbit to study the planet's magnetosphere, atmosphere, and interior. Launch of the spacecraft is planned for no later than June 2010. Juno was one of two finalists to be the second mission of NASA's New Frontiers class of medium-cost planetary science missions, costing no more than $700 million. Juno beat out Moonrise, a proposed sample return mission from the south pole of the Moon. NASA's approval of Juno covers only the preliminary design phase of the spacecraft's development; the mission must pass a design review before actual development of the spacecraft will begin. Lockheed Martin will build the spacecraft, with mission support provided by JPL; the mission's principal investigator, Scott Bolton, is from the Southwest Research Institute.
