A spacecraft bound for Jupiter is now free to continue its journey after engineers used an innovative technique to free a stuck antenna. The Juno spacecraft, which was launched in 2011, had been stuck in a looping orbit since its arrival in 2016, unable to move any closer to the planet due to a stuck antenna. After a few years of trying various techniques to free the antenna, engineers finally discovered that by harnessing the power of sunlight, they could finally make the antenna move. By using a special reflector to focus the sun’s rays on the stuck antenna, the engineers were able to unlock it and continue the mission. Juno is now on its way to investigate Jupiter’s atmosphere and interior, and will be providing unprecedented insights into the planet’s mysterious origins.

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source: Phys.org