The Juno spacecraft, which successfully entered the orbit of Jupiter on July 4, 2016, will for the first time peer below the dense cover of clouds to answer questions about the gas giant and the origins of our solar system.

Juno's primary goal is to reveal the story of Jupiter's formation and evolution. Using long-proven technologies on a spinning spacecraft placed in an elliptical polar orbit, Juno will observe Jupiter's gravity and magnetic fields, atmospheric dynamics and composition, and evolution.

Mission Events

Launch - August 5, 2011
Deep Space Maneuvers - August/September 2012
Earth flyby gravity assist - October 2013
Jupiter arrival and orbit insertion - July 4, 2016
Spacecraft will orbit Jupiter for 20 months (37 orbits)
End of mission (deorbit into Jupiter) - February 2018

Scientific Instrument(s)

- Gravity Science
- Magnetometer (MAG)
- Microwave Radiometer (MWR)
- Jupiter Energetic Particle Detector Instrument (JEDI)
- Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE)
- Waves
- Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVS)
- Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM)
- JunoCam