Extended Mission
Now in its extended mission, Juno remains NASA's most distant planetary orbiter, continuing its investigation of the solar system’s largest planet.
The extended mission’s science campaigns expand on discoveries Juno has already made about Jupiter’s interior structure, internal magnetic field, atmosphere (including polar cyclones, deep atmosphere, and auroras), and magnetosphere. Jupiter’s enigmatic Great Blue Spot — an isolated patch of intense magnetic field near the planet’s equator – is the target of a high-spatial resolution magnetic survey during six flybys early in the extended mission.
Juno’s extended mission includes flybys of the moons Ganymede, Europa, and Io. This graphic depicts the spacecraft’s orbits of Jupiter – labeled “PJ” for perijove, or point of closest approach to the planet – from its prime mission in gray to the 42 orbits of its extended mission in shades of blue and purple. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI
Juno is now an explorer of the
full Jovian system. As the spacecraft’s orbit continues to evolve,
additional flybys of the moons Europa and Io are planned. Juno will also
fly through the Europa torus and the Io torus. These are
doughnut-shaped clouds of charged particles that surround each moon’s
orbit. The spacecraft will pass through the tori on multiple occasions,
characterizing the radiation environment near these satellites to better
prepare NASA’s future missions. The extended mission also adds a study
of dust in Jupiter’s faint rings to Juno’s extensive list of science
investigations.
Read more about Juno's extend mission here: NASA’s Juno Mission Expands Into the Future, and Juno's flyby of Jupiter's moon, Ganymede, which bridged the prime mission to the extended mission: Ride With Juno As It Flies Past the Solar System’s Biggest Moon and Jupiter
To follow along with Juno’s extended mission, visit the News, JunoCam Image Processing, and Science Findings sections for updates.
Read more about Juno's extend mission here: NASA’s Juno Mission Expands Into the Future, and Juno's flyby of Jupiter's moon, Ganymede, which bridged the prime mission to the extended mission: Ride With Juno As It Flies Past the Solar System’s Biggest Moon and Jupiter
To follow along with Juno’s extended mission, visit the News, JunoCam Image Processing, and Science Findings sections for updates.