Spacecraft with San Antonio roots gets life extended FacebookTwitterEmail 1of3 Launched from Earth in 2011, the Juno spacecraft arrived at Jupiter in 2016 to study the giant planet from an elliptical, polar orbit. Juno will repeatedly dive between the planet and its intense belts of charged particle radiation, coming only 5,000 kilometers (about 3,000 miles) from the cloud tops at closest approach.NASA/JPL-CaltechShow MoreShow Less 2of3 This artist’s concept depicts NASA’s Juno spacecraft above Jupiter’s north pole.NASA/JPL-CaltechShow MoreShow Less 3of3 NASA has extended the Juno mission, led by Scott Bolton of Southwest Research Institute, to explore Jupiter through September 2025, expanding the science goals to include the overall Jovian system, made up of the planet and its rings and moons. Juno includes a public outreach instrument that allows citizen scientists to participate in the mission, processing JunoCam data to create images such as this highly enhanced “Orange Marble” image of Jupiter.Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSSShow MoreShow Less