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Artist impression of the Juno spacecraft at Jupiter.NASA/JPL-Caltech

Mission name: Juno

Juno

Juno will improve our understanding of the solar system's beginnings by revealing the origin and evolution of Jupiter.

Launch Date August 05, 2011
Arrival Date July 04, 2016
Mission TypeOrbiter
TargetOuter Solar System

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Mission Overview
Data from Juno improves our understanding of the solar system’s beginnings by revealing the origin and evolution of Jupiter. The mission will determine how much water is in Jupiter’s atmosphere, which helps determine which planet formation theory is correct (or if new theories are needed). Juno will look deep into Jupiter’s atmosphere to measure composition, temperature, cloud motions and other properties; and will also map Jupiter’s magnetic and gravity fields, revealing the planet’s deep structure. Finally, Juno will explore and study Jupiter’s magnetosphere near the planet’s poles, especially the auroras – Jupiter’s northern and southern lights – providing new insights about how the planet’s enormous magnetic force field affects its atmosphere.

In 2021, the Juno mission was extended to continue studies of our solar system’s largest planet. The mission extension also tasked the spacecraft with exploring the full Jovian system, including the planet’s rings and moons. Multiple rendezvous are planned with Ganymede, Europa, and Io. These Galilean moons are of great interest to astrobiologists, with Europa and its subsurface ocean being one of highest priority astrobiology targets in the Solar System.

Relevance to Astrobiology
Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System and, as such, played a major role in our system’s formation. Studying Jupiter and its history can help astrobiologists understand the conditions that led Earth to become habitable for life as we know it.

Jupiter also has many moons that are targets of astrobiology research, in particular the icy world Europa. Studying the interactions between Jupiter and Europa is vital in understanding whether or not Europa, and its subsurface ocean, could be habitable for life. One goal of Juno’s mission extension is a rendezvous with Europa.

Mission news and discoveries

This illustration depicts NASA's Juno spacecraft at Jupiter, with its solar arrays and main antenna pointed toward the distant sun and Earth.

NASA’s Juno Mission Measures Oxygen Production at Europa (NASA)March 05, 2024

The Sharpest Pictures of Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon Io in a Generation (NASA)February 12, 2024

NASA’s Juno to Get Close Look at Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon Io on Dec. 30 (NASA)December 28, 2023

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Major mission findings

The JunoCam imager aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft captured this image of Jupiter's southern equatorial region on Sept. 1, 2017. The image is oriented so Jupiter's poles (not visible) run left-to-right of frame.

February 18, 2020Water in Jupiter's Atmosphere

NASA’s Juno mission has provided its first science results on the amount of water in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Published recently in the journal Nature Astronomy, the Juno results estimate that at the equator, water makes up about 0.25% of the molecules in Jupiter’s atmosphere — almost three times that of the Sun. Read more at: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/findings-from-nasas-juno-update-jupiter-water-mystery

This image shows Jupiter’s south pole, as seen by NASA’s Juno spacecraft from an altitude of 32,000 miles (52,000 kilometers). The oval features are cyclones, up to 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) in diameter.

May 25, 2017Jupiter's South Pole

Juno’s imager, JunoCam, showed that both of Jupiter’s poles are covered in Earth-sized swirling storms that are densely clustered and rubbing together. Juno is in a polar orbit around Jupiter, and the majority of each orbit is spent well away from the gas giant. But, once every 53 days, its trajectory approaches Jupiter from above its north pole, where it begins a two-hour transit (from pole to pole) flying north to south with its eight science instruments collecting data and its JunoCam public outreach camera snapping pictures.

NASA's Juno spacecraft captured this view as it closed in on Jupiter's north pole, about two hours before closest approach on Aug. 27, 2016.

September 02, 2016Jupiter’s North Pole

NASA’s Juno spacecraft sent back the first-ever images of Jupiter’s north pole, taken during the spacecraft’s first flyby of the planet with its instruments switched on. The images show storm systems and weather activity unlike anything previously seen on any of our solar system’s gas-giant planets.

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Mission Facts

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Technicians at Astrotech's payload processing facility are stowing solar array no. 2 for NASA's Juno spacecraft.

As the sun comes up over Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, preparations are under way at Space Launch Complex 41 to launch the United Launch Alliance Atlas V-551 launch vehicle carrying NASA's Juno spacecraft.

Technicians test the deployment of one of the three massive solar arrays that will power NASA's Juno spacecraft.

Artist concept shows spinning, solar powered Juno spacecraft in orbit above Jupiter's north pole. The bluish glow of the planet's auroras is seen far below.

Juno spacecraft compared to a regulation basketball court.

Big Spacecraft for a Big PlanetJuno is 3.5 meters high and 3.5 meters in diameter. Each solar array is 9 meters by 2.65 meters.

Juno can be roughly compared in size to a regulation basketball court.

The LaunchJuno Launched on August 5, 2011.

As the sun comes up over Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, preparations are under way at Space Launch Complex 41 to launch the United Launch Alliance Atlas V-551 launch vehicle carrying NASA’s Juno spacecraft. Credit: NASA/Kenny Allen

Solar Power far from the SunJuno Powered by Massive Solar Panels

Juno is the first space mission to operate a solar-powered spacecraft at Jupiter, and it is the farthest solar powered spacecraft from Earth.

A Mission of FirstsJuno's Unique Mission

Juno is the first space mission to orbit an outer-planet from pole to pole, the first to fly as close as 2,600 miles to Jupiter’s cloud tops, and the first mission to be designed to operate in the heart of Jupiter’s radiation belts.

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