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NASA rules social media once again with the Juno mission’s sassy live-tweeting of its Jupiter orbit

By Ananya Bhattacharya
Published

After traveling 1.7 billion miles over five years, NASA’s spacecraft Juno entered a perfect orbit around Jupiter late on Monday (July 4). Space enthusiasts could follow Juno’s journey through the spaceship’s own eyes via its Twitter account.

Equal parts science and sass, Juno’s live-tweeting personality won the internet.#DealWithIt.

NASA is a trailblazer when it comes to government entities cracking social media, and the US space agency had a breakthrough back in 2008, when it tweeted as the Phoenix lander touching down on Mars in first person—a technique that became a surefire hit with audiences. It now has over 17 million followers on Twitter. The White House, the second-most popular government outfit, has fewer than 11 million followers.

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