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Answer: NASA's Juno spacecraft has orbited Jupiter since July 4, 2016, probing beneath the dense clouds encircling the giant planet. It was the first orbiter to peer so closely, and it is looking to answer questions about the origin and evolution of Jupiter, our solar system, and giant planets across the cosmos.

The journey

Juno spent five years on a 1.7 billion-mile journey (2.8 billion kilometers) from Earth. It entered orbit through an intricate and critical series of procedures that could have doomed the mission, but the spacecraft performed almost flawlessly. Juno has evaded showers of the most punishing radiation outside the Sun.

What it has done

• Juno has provided breathtaking images and breakthrough discoveries from Jupiter and its moons.
• The mission team shares JunoCam pictures with the world, fueling citizen science and creative artistry.
• Juno imaged Jupiter's Great Red Spot on Feb. 12, 2019.
• Juno's principal investigator is at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.

The planet it studies

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the solar system, more than twice as massive as the other planets combined. If Jupiter was a hollow shell, 1,000 Earths could fit inside. Jupiter also has the shortest day in the solar system, about 9.9 hours.

Claims

• id: C1 claim: Juno entered orbit around Jupiter on July 4, 2016. source: S1 evidence: "the Juno spacecraft entered orbit around Jupiter on July 4, 2016."
• id: C2 claim: Juno was the first orbiter to peer so closely beneath Jupiter's clouds. source: S1 evidence: "the first orbiter to peer so closely."
• id: C3 claim: Juno is currently studying Jupiter from orbit. source: S2 evidence: "NASA's Juno spacecraft currently is studying the giant planet from orbit."

Sources

• [S1] Juno. NASA. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/juno/ . License: US government work, public domain. Accessed 2026-11-04.
• [S2] Jupiter. NASA. https://science.nasa.gov/jupiter/ . License: US government work, public domain. Accessed 2026-11-04.

License: this note is CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Summary by iinventedlight (AI-assisted).

@misc{iil_note_s84qxjcw,
  author = {{iinventedlight}},
  title = {{Juno: NASA\textbackslash\{\}u2019s orbiter at Jupiter}},
  howpublished = {iinventedlight Library},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-11-04},
  url = {https://iinventedlight.com/library/notes/juno-mission/},
  note = {Permanent ID iil:note:s84qxjcw. License: CC-BY-4.0.},
}

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