Juno spacecraft successfully enters orbit around Jupiter

Juno project manager underlined the success of the mission to enter Jupiter's orbit by ripping up Nasa's prepared media explainer sheet in case things had gone wrong.

Rick Nybakken tore up the "contingency communications strategy” to cheers at the press conference.

"Juno sang," he told the audience. "And it was a song of perfection."

The leader of the NASA team behind the successful Juno mission to Jupiter has hailed the team effort behind the project, describing its completion as a "dream come true".

Speaking at a press conference after the space probe began its orbit of the solar system's biggest planet, Scott Bolton said: "NASA did it again. That says it all to me.

"I am so happy to be part of the team that did that. This team has worked so hard and we have just such great people and it's almost like a dream coming true right here."

The solar-powered space probe Juno has entered orbit around Jupiter to explore the giant planet, Nasa said.

The spacecraft, named after the Roman goddess, successfully completed a manoeuvre that saw it fire a rocket to slow its 150,000 mph (250,000 kph) approach to the gas giant.

Cheers and applause erupted in NASA's mission control in California when a signal arrived confirming the burn was complete.

However it will be some time before Juno begins beaming data and images back to Earth, as the spacecraft's camera and other instruments were switched off for arrival.

The Juno space probe has begun the final stage of its five-year, 1.4 billion-mile journey to Jupiter from Earth as scientists attempt to guide the spacecraft into orbit.

The automated procedure began in the early hours of Tuesday before a "giant" burn of its rocket initiated at around 4.18am to slow its approach speed from 150,000 mph (250,000 kph).

There was applause as mission control teams from Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the California Institute of Technology and Lockheed Martin in Denver received data that suggested the rocket had ignited as planned.