Forget about starting the new year with a gym membership, all you need is this an email subscription to NASA's Juno Mission! And here is why...
1. Let's start off with the first awesome Jupiter related event for the year! On March 8th make sure you step outside, and enjoy seeing Jupiter with your own naked eyes! Not only will Jupiter be visible but it will be at its closest point to Earth!
Now for the truely exciting stuff...
2. On the 4th of July, 2016, the Juno spacecraft will begin its orbital insertion around Jupiter! It will have taken only 5 years to travel the 2.8 billion km. Juno will be only the 2nd spacecraft to actually enter the orbit of Jupiter, the first being Galileo which ended its mission in 2003.
3. A bit of an extension from reason number two, but Juno is also going to be flying past three of the most interesting moons in the entire Galilean system! Over 33 orbits, data will be continuously collected from Jupiter and it's passing Moons. Why is getting a few data sets from Moons so interesting? All three of these Moon's are believed to have liquid oceans under their surfaces, hinting to be some of the most likely places for life beyond earth to have evolved!
2016 is looking to be a great year for space exploration, with patience the secrets of Jupiter and its Moons will hopefully be solved!
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