NASA extends Juno, turning spacecraft into an Io, Europa, and Ganymede explorer

Enlarge / NASA's Juno spacecraft soared directly over Jupiter's south pole when JunoCam acquired this image on February 2, 2017. (credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/John Landino)

NASA has announced that it will extend the missions for two of its interplanetary explorers launching during the last decade-the Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter and the InSight lander on the surface of Mars.

The Juno extension means the spacecraft will now operate in the Jovian system through 2025. This will effectively transform the spacecraft from a mission to study Jupiter into a full-fledged Jovian system explorer, complete with close flybys of several of Jupiter's moons as well as its system of rings.

Back in the inner Solar System on the surface of Mars, the InSight mission will now run through December 2022. During these additional two years, the lander will continue to operate its seismometer to identify Marsquakes, as well as continue to collect detailed information about weather at the surface.

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