What is the Juno Probe?

About Juno Probe:

• JUNO is an acronym for Jupiter Near-Polar Orbiter.
• It is a NASA spacecraft designed to orbit the planet Jupiter.
• Juno was launched by an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on August 5, 2011. 
• The Juno spacecraft initially embarked on a 5-year journey to the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter.
• Main Goal: Learn more about Jupiter’s origins and how the planet has changed.
• Since it arrived at Jupiter in 2016, it has been probing beneath the dense, forbidding clouds encircling the giant planet – the first orbiter to peer so closely. 
• Juno orbits Jupiter every 11 days in a highly elliptical orbit (4,400 by 2,700,000 km [2,700 by 1,700,000 miles]) over the planet’s poles. 
• It is solar-powered. 
• Though Juno’s primary mission wrapped in July 2021, it’s been granted an extended mission that’s expected to end in 2025.
• During the extended mission, Juno is exploring even more of the Jupiter system, including some of the planet’s most intriguing moons: Ganymede, Europa, and Io. Juno will also investigate Jupiter’s atmosphere and rings in greater detail.

Q1: What are lava lakes?

Lava lakes are lakes of molten or solidified lava in volcanic craters or depressions. They may form when a vent or crater becomes partially filled with molten lava. Most lava lakes consist of basaltic lavas.

Source: NASA’s Juno probe gets a close-up look at lava lakes on Jupiter’s moon Io

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