Juno Spacecraft

The Juno spacecraft carries a payload of 29 sensors, which feed data to nine onboard instruments. Eight of these instruments (MAG, MWR, Gravity Science, Waves, JEDI, JADE, UVS, JIRAM) are considered the science payload. One instrument, JunoCam, is aboard to generate images for education and public outreach.


Primary science observations are obtained within three hours of closest approach to Jupiter, although calibrations, occasional remote sensing and magnetospheric science observations are planned throughout the science orbits around Jupiter.


Juno is spin-stabilized. Because of the spacecraft mission design and the fact that its science instruments were all developed together, and there is no need for a scan platform to point instruments in different directions. Gravity science and microwave sounding of the atmosphere observations are obtained through orientation of the spacecraft's spin plane. All other experiments utilize ride-along pointing and work in either one or both orientations. This design allows for very simple operations.

Credit: NASA