07/05/2016
NASA's Juno[1] spacecraft, which in 2013 listened for earthbound radio amateurs
sending "HI" in coordinated, very slow-speed CW, now is circling Jupiter. In a
first-of-a-kind for an interplanetary spacecraft, Juno was able to detect[2] 10
meter Amateur Radio signals on October 9, 2013, as it looped past Earth for a
gravity-assisted boost on its way to Jupiter. Juno arrived at the solar
system's largest planet on July 4.
At the time of the Amateur Radio experiment in 2013, the spacecraft was about
37,500 kilometers (23,250 miles) away, and the signals it received were
reported to have been just at or above the noise level. The object of the
experiment was to see if Juno's onboard "Waves" experiment would be able to
detect the collaborative RF. According to the University of Iowa, after the
flyby the Juno team evaluated the Waves instrument data containing the
messages.
"We believe this was the first intelligent information to be transmitted to a
passing interplanetary space instrument, as simple as the message may seem,"
said Bill Kurth, a University of Iowa Researcher and Lead Investigator for the
Waves instrument. "This was a way to involve a large number of people - those
not usually associated with Juno - in a small portion of the mission."
Kurth said in 2013 that the activity had raised awareness of the mission, and
that some radio amateurs had indicated plans to follow Juno through its science
mission to Jupiter.
The objectives of the Juno mission are to understand the origin and evolution
of Jupiter, look for solid planetary core, map magnetic field, measure water
and ammonia in deep atmosphere, and observe auroras. The spacecraft was to make
33 orbits of Jupiter. It will explore Jupiter's northern and southern lights by
flying directly through the electrical current systems that generate them.
[1] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/juno/main/index.html
[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nW03lcrw_8&feature=youtu.be
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