Designed to capture remarkable pictures of Jupiter’s cloud tops, Juno’s color, visible-light camera – called JunoCam – will see what you would see if you were an astronaut orbiting Jupiter. As Juno’s eyes, it will provide a wide view, helping to provide context for the spacecraft’s other instruments.

Because Juno rotates a couple of times per minute, its images would smear if it were to try to take a complete picture at once.  Instead, it is a "push-broom imager," taking thin strips of an image at the same rate that the spacecraft spins. JunoCam then stitches the strips together to form the full picture.

JunoCam takes images only during closest approach – about 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) above the cloud tops – when it gets the best vantage point possible. Taking pictures with a resolution of up to 25 kilometers (16 miles) per pixel, the wide-angle camera will provide incredible new views of Jupiter’s atmosphere.

Eventually, the high-energy particles surrounding Jupiter will destroy JunoCam’s electronics. But the camera is designed to last for at least seven orbits – enough time to take plenty of pictures.

JunoCam’s hardware is based on a descent camera that was developed for Curiosity, the Mars rover slated to launch later this year. Some of its software was originally developed for the Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. JunoCam is provided by Malin Space Science Systems.    

JunoCamis provided by Malin Space Science Systems.