7 Things You Need To Know About NASA's Big Jupiter Mission

7. Jupiter In A Nutshell

Okay, first things first, why Jupiter?

Jupiter is the big boy. It has almost countless moons, a great magnetic field and emits more heat than it absorbs, placing it in the centre of its very own little system in itself.

As well as being a pretty big deal, size-wise, Jupiter can offer us an unprecedented window into the nature and the history of the solar system. It contains more material than everything else orbiting our sun - including the planets, asteroids and comets - combined, and uncovering the secrets hidden under its swirling surface would give us a look under the hood of the solar system we call home.

It is thought be the first thing to have formed into solar system, from the leftovers of the sun, and that everything else formed from the leftovers of that process.

The Juno spacecraft will peer beneath the familiar bands of clouds and discover the gas giant's deepest, darkest secrets.