The most detailed images of Jupiter’s atmosphere has already received

Saturday at 5:51 a.m. PDT, (8:51 a.m. EDT, 12:51 UTC) NASA’s Juno spacecraft photographed the clouds of Jupiter, closer and in detail all the history of mankind.

This is the first satellite’s orbit with the closest approach of the rest of his mission.

Juno into orbit 27 aug 2016

“This is the first time we will be close to Jupiter since we entered orbit on July 4,” said Scott Bolton, principal investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. “Back then we turned all our instruments off to focus on the rocket burn to get Juno into orbit around Jupiter. Since then, we have checked Juno from stem to stern and back again. We still have more testing to do, but we are confident that everything is working great, so for this upcoming flyby Juno’s eyes and ears, our science instruments, will all be open.” 

“No other spacecraft has ever orbited Jupiter this closely, or over the poles in this fashion,” said Steve Levin, Juno project scientist from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. “This is our first opportunity and there are bound to be surprises. We need to take our time to make sure our conclusions are correct.”

Not only will Juno’s suite of eight science instruments be on, the spacecraft’s visible light imager — JunoCam will also be snapping some closeups. A handful of JunoCam images, including the highest resolution imagery of the Jovian atmosphere and the first glimpse of Jupiter’s north and south poles, are expected to be released during the first two weeks of September.

Where is Juno now?

Visualize Juno’s journey through space and get up-to-date data sets using NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System 3D interactive.

Eyes on the Solar System lets you explore the planets, their moons, asteroids, comets and the spacecraft exploring them from 1950 to 2050. Ride with the Curiosity Rover as it lands on Mars or fly by Pluto with the New Horizons spacecraft all from the comfort of your home computer.

Using real trajectory data you can recreate famous moments in solar system exploration, or preview exciting adventures yet to come. Fly with the Voyager spacecraft on their grand voyage, orbit Mars with MAVEN, fly by a comet with Deep Impact or Stardust, and observe our home planet alongside the spacecraft that keep track of Earth’s climate.