Mission Juno
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Jupiter holds secrets about the formation of our solar system. NASA’s Juno mission will investigate how the giant planet formed and evolved. Launching in 2011, the Juno spacecraft carries instruments that will allow scientists to examine Jupiter from its innermost core to the outer reaches of the magnetic bubble that surrounds the planet. Juno will map Jupiter’s gravity and magnetic fields to learn about the planet’s interior structure. The mission will also study Jupiter’s composition and the circulation of its atmosphere, and determine how the magnetic field inside the planet is connected to its atmosphere and magnetosphere – especially to Jupiter’s brilliant auroras. Juno will take 11 days to complete its orbit over Jupiter’s poles and, at closest approach, will pass only 5000 kilometers (3100 miles) above the planet’s cloud tops. When Juno arrives at Jupiter in 2016, it will be farther from the sun than any previous solar powered spacecraft. Juno’s study of Jupiter will unlock secrets that will help us understand the history of our own solar system as well as the origins of the many planetary systems being discovered around other stars.
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