Juno

Mission Profile

Juno is a NASA solar-powered spacecraft in polar orbit around Jupiter, launched on 5 August 2011 aboard an Atlas V 551 and arriving at the gas giant on 4 July 2016 after a 5-year cruise including an Earth gravity assist. The mission studies Jupiter's composition, gravitational field, magnetic field, and polar magnetosphere to answer fundamental questions about the planet's formation and the origin of the solar system. Juno carries a visible camera (JunoCam) whose raw images are processed by citizen scientists worldwide, producing stunning color portraits of Jupiter's cloud systems. The spacecraft's extended mission includes close flybys of the Galilean moons Ganymede, Europa, and Io, significantly expanding its scientific scope beyond its original design.