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Theexploration of Jupiter has been conducted via close observations byautomated spacecraft. It began with the arrival ofPioneer 10 into theJovian system in 1973, and, as of 2024[update], has continued with eight further spacecraft missions in the vicinity of Jupiter and two more en route. All but one of these missions were undertaken by theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and all but four wereflybys taking detailed observations without landing or entering orbit. Theseprobes makeJupiter the most visited of theSolar System'souter planets as all missions to the outer Solar System have used Jupiter flybys. On July 5, 2016, spacecraftJuno arrived and entered the planet's orbit—the second craft ever to do so. Sending a craft to Jupiter is difficult due to large fuel requirements and the effects of the planet's harsh radiation environment.
The first spacecraft to visit Jupiter wasPioneer 10 in 1973, followed a year later byPioneer 11. Aside from taking the first close-up pictures of the planet, the probes discoveredits magnetosphere and its largely fluid interior. TheVoyager 1 andVoyager 2 probes visited the planet in 1979, and studied itsmoons andthe ring system, discovering thevolcanic activity of Io and the presence of waterice on the surface ofEuropa.Ulysses, intended to observe the Sun's poles, further studied Jupiter's magnetosphere in 1992 and then again in 2004. TheSaturn-boundCassini probe approached the planet in 2000 and took very detailed images ofits atmosphere. ThePluto-boundNew Horizons spacecraft passed by Jupiter in 2007 and made improved measurements of its and its satellites' parameters.
TheGalileo spacecraft was the first to have entered orbit around Jupiter, arriving in 1995 and studying the planet until 2003. During this periodGalileo gathered a large amount of information about the Jovian system, making close approaches to all of the four largeGalilean moons and finding evidence for thin atmospheres on three of them, as well as the possibility of liquid water beneath their surfaces. It also discovered amagnetic field around Ganymede. As it approached Jupiter, it also witnessed the impact ofComet Shoemaker–Levy 9. In December 1995, it sent an atmospheric probe into the Jovian atmosphere, so far the only craft to do so.
In July 2016, theJuno spacecraft, launched in 2011, completed itsorbital insertion maneuver successfully, and is in orbit around Jupiter with its science programme ongoing, with goals to study its magnetosphere and atmosphere in depth.
TheEuropean Space Agency selected the L1-classJUICE orbiter mission in 2012 as part of itsCosmic Vision programme[1][2] to explore three of Jupiter's Galilean moons, with a possible Ganymede lander provided byRoscosmos.[3]JUICE was launched on April 14, 2023.[4] The Russian lander did not materialize in the end.[5]
NASA successfully launched another orbiter spacecraft,Europa Clipper, to study the moonEuropa on October 14, 2024.
TheChinese National Space Administration planned to launch twoInterstellar Express missions in 2024 on a flyby of Jupiter[6][7] andTianwen-4 around 2029 to explore the planet andCallisto.[8]
AList of missions to the outer planets with previous and upcoming missions to the outer Solar System (including Jupiter) is available.
Flights from Earth to other planets in theSolar System have a high energy cost. It requires almost the same amount of energy for a spacecraft to reach Jupiter fromEarth's orbit as it does to lift it into orbit in the first place. Inastrodynamics, this energy expenditure is defined by the net change in the spacecraft'svelocity, ordelta-v. The energy needed to reach Jupiter from an Earth orbit requires a delta-v of about 9 km/s,[9] compared to the 9.0–9.5 km/s to reach alow Earth orbit from the ground.[10]Gravity assists through planetaryflybys (such as byEarth orVenus) can be used to reduce the energetic requirement (i.e. the fuel) at launch, at the cost of a significantly longer flight duration to reach a target such as Jupiter when compared to the direct trajectory.[11]Ion thrusters capable of a delta-v of more than 10 km/s were used on theDawn spacecraft. This is more than enough delta-v to do a Jupiter fly-by mission from a solar orbit of the same radius as that of Earth without gravity assist.[12]
Jupiter has no solid surface on which to land, as there is asmooth transition between the planet'satmosphere and its fluid interior. Any probes descending into the atmosphere are eventually crushed by the immensepressures within Jupiter.[13]
A major issue with sending probes to Jupiter is the amount ofradiation to which a space probe is subjected, due to the harsh charged-particle environment around Jupiter (for a detailed explanation seeMagnetosphere of Jupiter). For example, whenPioneer 11 made its closest approach to the planet, the level of radiation was ten times more powerful thanPioneer's designers had predicted, leading to fears that the probes would not survive. With a few minor glitches, the probe managed to pass through theradiation belts, but it lost most of the images of the moonIo, as the radiation had causedPioneer's imaging photopolarimeter to receive false commands.[14] The subsequent and far more technologically advancedVoyager spacecraft had to be redesigned to cope with the radiation levels.[15] Over the eight years theGalileo spacecraft orbited the planet, the probe's radiation dose far exceeded its design specifications, and its systems failed on several occasions. The spacecraft'sgyroscopes often exhibited increased errors, andelectrical arcs sometimes occurred between its rotating and non-rotating parts, causing it to entersafe mode, which led to total loss of the data from the 16th, 18th and 33rd orbits. The radiation also caused phase shifts inGalileo's ultra-stablequartz oscillator.[16]
The first spacecraft to explore Jupiter wasPioneer 10, which flew past the planet in December 1973, followed byPioneer 11 twelve months later.Pioneer 10 obtained the first close-up images of Jupiter and itsGalilean moons; the spacecraft studied the planet's atmosphere, detectedits magnetic field, observed its radiation belts and determined that Jupiter is mainly fluid.[18][19]Pioneer 11 made its closest approach, within some 43,000 km of Jupiter's cloud tops, on December 3, 1974. It obtained dramatic images of theGreat Red Spot, made the first observation of Jupiter's immense polar regions, and determined the mass of Jupiter's moonCallisto. The information gathered by these two spacecraft helped astronomers and engineers improve the design of future probes to cope more effectively with the environment around the giant planet.[15][20]
Voyager 1 began photographing Jupiter in January 1979 and made its closest approach on March 5, 1979, at a distance of 349,000 km from Jupiter's center.[21] This close approach allowed for greater image resolution, though the flyby's short duration meant that most observations ofJupiter's moons,rings,magnetic field, and radiation environment were made in the 48-hour period bracketing the approach, even thoughVoyager 1 continued photographing the planet until April. It was soon followed byVoyager 2, which made its closest approach on July 9, 1979,[22] 576,000 km away from the planet's cloud tops.[23][24] The probe discovered Jupiter's ring, observed intricate vortices in its atmosphere, observed active volcanoes onIo, a process analogous toplate tectonics on Ganymede, and numerous craters on Callisto.[25]
TheVoyager missions vastly improved our understanding of the Galilean moons, and also discovered Jupiter's rings. They also took the first close-up images ofthe planet's atmosphere, revealing the Great Red Spot as a complex storm moving in a counter-clockwise direction. Other smaller storms and eddies were found throughout the banded clouds (see animation on the right).[22] Two new, small satellites,Adrastea andMetis, were discovered orbiting just outside the ring, making them the first of Jupiter's moons to be identified by a spacecraft.[26][27] A third new satellite,Thebe, was discovered between the orbits of Amalthea and Io.[28]
The discovery of volcanic activity on the moon Io was the greatest unexpected finding of the mission, as it was the first time an activevolcano was observed on a celestial body other than Earth. Together, theVoyagers recorded the eruption of nine volcanoes on Io, as well as evidence for other eruptions occurring between the Voyager encounters.[29]
Europa displayed a large number of intersecting linear features in the low-resolution photos fromVoyager 1. At first, scientists believed the features might be deep cracks, caused by crustal rifting ortectonic processes. The high-resolution photos fromVoyager 2, taken closer to Jupiter, left scientists puzzled as the features in these photos were almost entirely lacking intopographic relief. This led many to suggest that these cracks might be similar toice floes on Earth, and that Europa might have a liquid water interior.[30] Europa may be internally active due totidal heating at a level about one-tenth that of Io, and as a result, the moon is thought to have a thin crust less than 30 kilometers (19 mi) thick of water ice, possibly floating on a 50-kilometer-deep (31 mi) ocean.[31]
On February 8, 1992, theUlysses solar probe flew past Jupiter's north pole at a distance of 451,000 km.[32] Thisswing-by maneuver was required forUlysses to attain a very high-inclination orbit around the Sun, increasing its inclination to theecliptic to 80.2 degrees.[33] The giant planet's gravity bent the spacecraft's flightpath downward and away from the ecliptic plane, placing it into a final orbit around the Sun's north and south poles. The size and shape of the probe's orbit were adjusted to a much smaller degree, so that itsaphelion remained at approximately 5 AU (Jupiter's distance from the Sun), while its perihelion lay somewhat beyond 1 AU (Earth's distance from the Sun). During its Jupiter encounter, the probe made measurements of the planet'smagnetosphere.[33] Since the probe had no cameras, no images were taken. In February 2004, the probe arrived again at the vicinity of Jupiter. This time the distance from the planet was much greater—about 120 million km (0.8 AU)—but it made further observations of Jupiter.[33][34][35]
In 2000, theCassini probe,en route toSaturn, flew by Jupiter and provided some of the highest-resolution images ever taken of the planet. It made its closest approach on December 30, 2000, and made many scientific measurements. About 26,000 images of Jupiter were taken during the months-long flyby. It produced the most detailed global color portrait of Jupiter yet, in which the smallest visible features are approximately 60 km (37 mi) across.[36]
A major finding of the flyby, announced on March 5, 2003, was of Jupiter's atmospheric circulation. Dark belts alternate with light zones in the atmosphere, and the zones, with their pale clouds, had previously been considered by scientists to be areas ofupwelling air, partly because on Earth clouds tend to be formed by rising air. Analysis ofCassini imagery showed that the dark belts contain individual storm cells of upwelling bright-white clouds, too small to see from Earth.Anthony Del Genio ofNASA'sGoddard Institute for Space Studies said that "the belts must be the areas of net-rising atmospheric motion on Jupiter, [so] the net motion in the zones has to be sinking".[37]
Other atmospheric observations included a swirling dark oval of high atmospheric-haze, about the size of theGreat Red Spot, near Jupiter's north pole.Infrared imagery revealed aspects of circulation near the poles, with bands of globe-encircling winds, and adjacent bands moving in opposite directions. The same announcement also discussed the nature of Jupiter'srings.Light scattering by particles in the rings showed the particles were irregularly shaped (rather than spherical) and likely originated asejecta frommicrometeorite impacts on Jupiter's moons, probably onMetis andAdrastea. On December 19, 2000, theCassini spacecraft captured a very-low-resolution image of the moonHimalia, but it was too distant to show any surface details.[36]
TheNew Horizons probe, en route toPluto, flew by Jupiter for a gravity assist and was the first probe launched directly towards Jupiter since theUlysses in 1990. ItsLong Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) took its first photographs of Jupiter on September 4, 2006.[38] The spacecraft began further study of the Jovian system in December 2006, and made its closest approach on February 28, 2007.[39][40][41]
Although close to Jupiter,New Horizons' instruments made refined measurements of the orbits of Jupiter's inner moons, particularlyAmalthea. The probe's cameras measured volcanoes on Io, studied all four Galilean moons in detail, and made long-distance studies of the outer moonsHimalia andElara.[42] The craft also studied Jupiter'sLittle Red Spot and the planet's magnetosphere and tenuous ring system.[43]
On March 19, 2007, the Command and Data Handling computer experienced an uncorrectable memory error and rebooted itself, causing the spacecraft to go into safe mode. The craft fully recovered within two days, with some data loss on Jupiter's magnetotail. No other data loss events were associated with the encounter. Due to the immense size of the Jupiter system and the relative closeness of the Jovian system toEarth in comparison to the closeness ofPluto to Earth,New Horizons sent back more data to Earth from the Jupiter encounter than thePluto encounter.
The first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter was theGalileo orbiter, which went into orbit around Jupiter on December 7, 1995. It orbited the planet for over seven years, making 35 orbits before it was destroyed during a controlled impact with Jupiter on September 21, 2003.[44] During this period, it gathered a large amount of information about the Jovian system; the amount of information was not as great as intended because the deployment of itshigh-gain radio transmitting antenna failed.[45] The major events during the eight-year study included multiple flybys of all of theGalilean moons, as well asAmalthea (the first probe to do so).[46] It also witnessed the impact of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 as it approached Jupiter in 1994 and released an atmospheric probe into the Jovian atmosphere in December 1995.[47]
Cameras on theGalileo spacecraft observed fragments ofComet Shoemaker–Levy 9 between 16 and 22 July 1994 as they collided with Jupiter's southern hemisphere at a speed of approximately 60 kilometres per second. This was the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision ofSolar System objects.[48] While the impacts took place on the side of Jupiter hidden from Earth,Galileo, then at a distance of 1.6 AU from the planet, was able to see the impacts as they occurred. Its instruments detected a fireball that reached a peak temperature of about 24,000 K, compared to the typical Jovian cloudtop temperature of about 130 K (−143 °C), with the plume from the fireball reaching a height of over 3,000 km.[49]
An atmospheric probe was released from the spacecraft in July 1995, entering the planet's atmosphere on December 7, 1995. After ahigh-g descent into the Jovian atmosphere, the probe discarded the remains of its heat shield, and it parachuted through 150 km of the atmosphere, collecting data for 57.6 minutes, before being crushed by the pressure and temperature to which it was subjected (about 22 times Earth normal, at a temperature of 153 °C).[50] It would have melted thereafter, and possibly vaporized. TheGalileo orbiter itself experienced a more rapid version of the same fate when it was deliberately steered into the planet on September 21, 2003, at a speed of over 50 km/s,[45] in order to avoid any possibility of it crashing into and contaminatingEuropa.[51]
Major scientific results of theGalileo mission include:[52][53][54][55][56]
On December 11, 2013, NASA reported, based on results from theGalileo mission, the detection of "clay-like minerals" (specifically,phyllosilicates), often associated withorganic materials, on the icy crust ofEuropa, moon ofJupiter.[57] The presence of the minerals may have been the result of a collision with anasteroid orcomet according to the scientists.[57]
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(July 2016) |
NASA launchedJuno on August 5, 2011, to study Jupiter in detail. It entered apolar orbit of Jupiter on July 5, 2016. The spacecraft is studying theplanet's composition,gravity field,magnetic field, andpolar magnetosphere.Juno is also searching for clues about how Jupiter formed, including whether the planet has a rocky core, the amount of water present within the deep atmosphere, and how the mass is distributed within the planet.Juno also studies Jupiter's deep winds,[58][59]which can reach speeds of 600 km/h.[60][61]
Among early results,Juno gathered information about Jovian lightning that revised earlier theories.[62]Juno provided the first views of Jupiter's north pole, as well as insights about Jupiter's aurorae, magnetic field, and atmosphere.[63]
Juno made many discoveries that are challenging existing theories about Jupiter's formation. When it flew over the poles of Jupiter it imaged clusters of stable cyclones that exist at the poles.[64] It found that the magnetosphere of Jupiter is uneven and chaotic. Using its Microwave RadiometerJuno found that the red and white bands that can be seen on Jupiter extend hundreds of kilometers into the Jovian atmosphere, yet the interior of Jupiter isn't evenly mixed. This has resulted in the theory that Jupiter doesn't have a solid core as previously thought, but a "fuzzy" core made of pieces of rock andmetallic hydrogen. This peculiar core may be a result of a collision that happened early on in Jupiter's formation.[65]
ESA'sJupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) has been selected as part of ESA's Cosmic Vision science program. It was launched on 14 April 2023 and, after a series of flybys in the inner Solar System, arrives in Jupiter in 2031.[4][66] In 2012, the European Space Agency's selected the JUICE as its first Large mission, replacing its contribution to EJSM, theJupiter Ganymede Orbiter (JGO).[67] The partnership for the Europa Jupiter System Mission has since ended, but NASA will continue to contribute the European mission with hardware and an instrument.[68]
TheEuropa Clipper is a NASA mission that will focus on studying Jupiter's moonEuropa.[69] It was launched on 14 October 2024,[70] and will enter Jovian orbit after a 5.5-year cruise and gravity assists by Mars and Earth. The spacecraft would fly by Europa at least an intended 49 times to minimize radiation damage.[69]
China'sCNSA is planning to launch its twoShensuo (formerlyInterstellar Express) spacecraft in 2026 to flyby Jupiter on the way to explore theheliosphere.[6][7] Separately, CNSA has announced plans to launch itsTianwen-4 mission to Jupiter around 2030 which will enter orbit aroundCallisto.[71][72][8] In addition, they plan to launch theSolar Polar Orbit Observatory towards Jupiter as a gravity assist, performing a similar mission toUlysses in order to get into ahigh-inclination solar orbit.[73][74]
India'sISRO announced plans to launch an Indian mission to Jupiter in the 2020s.[75]
Because of the possibility of subsurface liquid oceans on Jupiter's moonsEuropa,Ganymede andCallisto, there has been great interest in studying the icy moons in detail. Funding difficulties have delayed progress. TheEuropa Orbiter[76] was a planned NASA mission to Europa, which was canceled in 2002.[77] Its main objectives included determining the presence or absence of a subsurface ocean and identifying candidate sites for future lander missions. NASA'sJIMO (Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter), which was canceled in 2005,[78] and a EuropeanJovian Europa Orbiter mission were also studied,[79] but were superseded by theEuropa Jupiter System Mission.
TheEuropa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) was a jointNASA/ESA proposal for exploration of Jupiter and its moons. In February 2009 it was announced that both space agencies had given this mission priority ahead of theTitan Saturn System Mission.[80][81] The proposal included a launch date of around 2020 and consisted of the NASA-ledJupiter Europa Orbiter, and the ESA-ledJupiter Ganymede Orbiter.[82][83][84] ESA's contribution had encountered funding competition from other ESA projects.[85] However, theJupiter Europa Orbiter (JEO), NASA's contribution, was considered by the Planetary Decadal Survey to be too expensive. The survey supported a cheaper alternative to JEO.[86] In the end, the whole EJSM mission, with all the proposed spacecraft from NASA and ESA (and JAXA), was cancelled (along with various related Roscosmos proposals). However, the ESAJUICE spacecraft and the NASAEuropa Clipper spacecraft, which grew out of the cancelled EJSM, were built later.
While scientists require further evidence to determine the extent of a rocky core on Jupiter, its Galilean moons provide the potential opportunity for future human exploration.
In 2003, NASA proposed a program called Human Outer Planets Exploration (HOPE) that involved sending astronauts to explore the Galilean moons.[87] NASA has projected a possible attempt some time in the 2040s.[88] In theVision for Space Exploration policy announced in January 2004, NASA discussed missions beyond Mars, mentioning that a "human research presence" may be desirable on Jupiter's moons.[89] Before the JIMO mission was cancelled, NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe stated that "human explorers will follow."[90]
The Jovian system in general poses particular disadvantages for human missions because of the severe radiation conditions prevailing inJupiter's magnetosphere and the planet's particularly deepgravitational well.
| Moon | rem/day |
|---|---|
| Io | 3600[91] |
| Europa | 540[91] |
| Ganymede | 8[91] |
| Callisto | 0.01[91] |
| Earth (Max) | 0.07 |
| Earth (Avg) | 0.0007 |
Jupiter would deliver about 36 Sv (3600 rem) per day to unshielded astronauts atIo and about 5.4 Sv (540 rems) per day to unshielded astronauts atEuropa,[91] which is a decisive aspect due to the fact that already an exposure to about 0.75 Sv over a period of a few days is enough to cause radiation poisoning, and about 5 Sv over a few days is fatal.[91][92] In 1997, theArtemis Project designed a plan to fly humans toEuropa.[93] According to this plan, explorers would drill down into the Europan ice crust, entering the postulated subsurface ocean, where they would inhabit artificial air pockets.[94]
Ganymede is the Solar System's largest moon and the Solar System's only known moon with amagnetosphere, but this does not shield it fromcosmic radiation to a noteworthy degree, because it is overshadowed by Jupiter's magnetic field. Ganymede receives about 0.08 Sv (8 rem) of radiation per day.[91]Callisto is farther from Jupiter's strong radiation belt and subject to only 0.0001 Sv (0.01 rem) a day.[91] For comparison, the average amount of radiation taken on Earth by a living organism is about 0.0024 Sv per year; the highest natural radiation levels on Earth are recorded aroundRamsar hot springs at about 0.26 Sv per year.
One of the main targets chosen by the HOPE study was Callisto. The possibility of building a surface base on Callisto was proposed, because of the low radiation levels at its distance from Jupiter and its geological stability. Callisto is the only Galilean satellite on which a crewed base is feasible. The levels ofionizing radiation on Io, Europa and long-term on Ganymede, are hostile to human life, and adequate protective measures have yet to be devised.[87][95]
NASA has speculated on the feasibility ofmining the atmospheres of the outer planets, particularly forhelium-3, anisotope ofhelium that is rare on Earth and could have a very high value per unit mass asthermonuclear fuel.[96][97] Factories stationed in orbit could mine the gas and deliver it to visiting craft.[98]
It could be possible to build a surface base that would produce fuel for further exploration of the Solar System.
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