All good things must come to a end, but Juno— NASA's $1-billion mission to study Jupiter like never before — has gotten a crucial life extension.
NASA originally planned to destroy its tennis-court-size robot by crashing it into Jupiter's bottomless clouds this summer. The rationale: Any earthly microbes stuck to Juno might contaminate the planet's moon Europa, which hides a potentially habitable alien ocean beneath its icy crust.
However, as Business Insider first reported in June, the space agency gave Juno a critical new lease on life that will keep the probe flying until at least July 2021.
Juno launched from Earth in August 2011, reached Jupiter in July 2016, and has made 14 high-speed flybys, called perijoves, around the gas giant. Each perijove has helped scientists peer through Jupiter's thick cloud layers, search for an elusive planetary core, and gather stunning images of colossal storms and chaotic cloud bands.
With the next phase of Juno's mission at Jupiter now beginning, we've rounded up some of the probe's most jaw-dropping photos, data imaging, and animations.
This story has been updated. It was originally published on April 27, 2018.
SEE ALSO: NASA has released stunning new images of Jupiter's bizarre, storm-choked north pole
SEE ALSO: NASA finally has the map it needs to explore Europa for signs of alien life
Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system — so massive, in fact, that it doesn't technically orbit the sun.
Source: Business Insider
The world is about 318 times as massive and 1,321 times as voluminous as Earth. Few spacecraft have ever visited it.
Source: Universe Today
Juno was the first probe to fly above and below Jupiter, photograph the planet's poles, and begin to unravel their mysteries.
Source: Business Insider
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