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Emily Lakdawalla • Jul 01, 2016
How to watch Juno's orbit insertion
The big day is almost here. Juno begins firing its main engine at 20:18 PT / 23:18 ET / 03:18 UT on July 4/5, and the maneuver should be over 35 minutes later at 20:53 / 23:53 / 03:53. Here's how you can follow the mission through its most hazardous event since launch.
NASA TV will begin broadcasting live beginning 19:30 PT / 22:30 ET / 02:30 UT. You can watch NASA TV online here, or via UStream.
There are two real-time simulators you can watch to get a sense of Juno's position, already available. They are NASA's Eyes on the Solar System, which has added a lot of content relevant to the orbit insertion, and a neat amateur-produced visualization at lizard-tail.com, made by Isana Kashiwai and Go Miyazaki. It'll also be fun to watch Juno making constant contact with different Deep Space Network antennae via DSN Now.
Twitter will be a fantastic place to watch. I'll be at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory all day on Monday, tweeting events as I witness them, and working myself up to a fever pitch of anticipation.
Here's a timeline of the events remaining until orbit insertion. All spacecraft events are Earth Received Time -- what time we will learn of these events happening back here on Earth, factoring in the 48 minutes it takes for radio signals from Juno to reach us.
| Event | Time (PDT) | Time (EDT) | Time (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-orbit-insertion briefing | 4 Jul 09:00 | 4 Jul 12:00 | 4 Jul 16:00 |
| Begin transmitting tones; switch telecom to medium gain antenna | 4 Jul 18:13 | 4 Jul 21:13 | 5 Jul 01:13 |
| Begin slow, first turn of 15 degrees away from the Sun, toward orbit insertion attitude | 4 Jul 18:16 | 4 Jul 21:16 | 5 Jul 01:16 |
| Begin fast, large turn to orbit insertion attitude | 4 Jul 19:28 | 4 Jul 22:28 | 5 Jul 02:28 |
| NASA TV broadcast begins | 4 Jul 19:30 | 4 Jul 22:30 | 5 Jul 02:30 |
| Switch to toroidal low gain antenna | 4 Jul 19:41 | 4 Jul 22:41 | 5 Jul 02:41 |
| Begin nutation damping activity to remove remaining wobble | 4 Jul 19:45 | 4 Jul 22:45 | 5 Jul 02:45 |
| Begin fine-tune adjustment of the orbit insertion attitude | 4 Jul 19:50 | 4 Jul 22:50 | 5 Jul 02:50 |
| Begin approx. 5-minute spin-up from 2 to 5 rotations per minute | 4 Jul 19:56 | 4 Jul 22:56 | 5 Jul 02:56 |
| Jupiter orbit insertion burn begins | 4 Jul 20:18 | 4 Jul 23:18 | 5 Jul 03:18 |
| Start 35-minute main engine burn | 4 Jul 20:18 | 4 Jul 23:18 | 5 Jul 03:18 |
| Capture into Jupiter orbit achieved | 4 Jul 20:38 | 4 Jul 23:38 | 5 Jul 03:38 |
| Jupiter orbit insertion burn ends | 4 Jul 20:53 | 4 Jul 23:53 | 5 Jul 03:53 |
| Close propulsion pressurant valves, ending burn | 4 Jul 20:53 | 4 Jul 23:53 | 5 Jul 03:53 |
| Begin approx. 5-minute spin-down from 5 to 2 rotations per minute | 4 Jul 20:55 | 4 Jul 23:55 | 5 Jul 03:55 |
| Begin turn to sun-pointed attitude | 4 Jul 21:07 | 5 Jul 00:07 | 5 Jul 04:07 |
| Switch telecom to medium gain antenna | 4 Jul 21:11 | 5 Jul 00:11 | 5 Jul 04:11 |
| Begin transmitting telemetry (it could take 20 minutes or more to lock onto telemetry signal) | 4 Jul 21:16 | 5 Jul 00:16 | 5 Jul 04:16 |
| Post-orbit-insertion briefing | 4 Jul 22:00 | 5 Jul 01:00 | 5 Jul 05:00 |
| Capture Orbit Phase begins | 4 Jul 22:48 | 5 Jul 01:48 | 5 Jul 05:48 |
If you're nervous about the orbit insertion (as I will be), consider downloading and coloring in this Juno coloring page from artist Go Miyazaki!
Let's have paint ! Juno Spacecraft COLORING :)#Juno pic.twitter.com/Vqop7KI6st
— モフ子㌨ (@moffmiyazaki) June 30, 2016