NASA: We conquered Jupiter! Jupiter: LOL

Juno mission arrives around giant planet.

The Juno spacecraft has entered orbit around Jupiter. Chief Mission Scientist, Scott Bolton announced "We conquered Jupiter." But the giant planet may disagree.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - "We conquered Jupiter!" a triumphant Scott Bolton announced Sunday night. If Jupiter could speak, it might refute Bolton's triumphant announcement.

Bolton is the chief scientist of the Juno mission that will study Jupiter in detail. The goal of the mission is to answer several big questions about the planet. Among those questions are, does Jupiter have a solid core? What is beneath the top layer of clouds? Why is the planet's famous Great Red Spot shrinking? How much water is on Jupiter?

The answers to these mysteries will help scientists understand how our solar system formed. Other answers may just satisfy curiosity for now, but they could prove useful later. For example, understanding Jupiter's Great Red Spot could help us understand storms on Earth. Learning more about Jupiter's magnetic field could help us understand Earth's magnetic field better.

Despite Bolton's exuberance, Jupiter is by no means conquered. The planet is by far the largest object in the solar system after the Sun. It would take more than 1,300 Earths just to match the volume of Jupiter.

Despite its sheer size, the planet rotates once on its axis every 10 hours, a speed so fast it flattens the planet.

Jupiter also has powerful radiation belts that could kill any human that were to orbit though them.

The Juno probe will study Jupiter for a year, then it will conduct a final experiment, diving headlong into the planet. The dive will destroy the Juno spacecraft, but it will also provide more information about Jupiter's atmosphere, telling us what is beneath the first layer of the planet's clouds.

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