NASA spacecraft obtains new Jupiter images

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- A U.S. spacecraft en route to Pluto has captured images of the Jupiter system never before seen.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's New Horizons spacecraft transmitted the images Feb. 28 as it used Jupiter's gravity to boost its speed and shave three years off its trip to Pluto.

Although it was the eighth spacecraft to visit Jupiter, New Horizons' trajectory, timing and technology allowed it to explore details not previously observed.

"The Jupiter encounter was successful beyond our wildest dreams," said Alan Stern, principal investigator for the New Horizons mission. "Not only did it prove our spacecraft and put it on course to reach Pluto in 2015, it was a chance for us to take sophisticated instruments to places in the Jovian system where other spacecraft could not go.

"It returned important data that adds tremendously to our understanding of the solar system's largest planet and its moons, rings and atmosphere."

The latest, most detailed analyses of the data were presented Tuesday in Orlando, Fla., during a meeting of the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences.

The data will also appear in the journal Science.