A look-back to the 50-year exploration of Jupiter's atmosphere

Abstract

Jupiter is the biggest and fastest-rotating planet in our solar system. As a gas giant without land–sea distribution or topography, Jupiter is an ideal natural laboratory for studying atmospheric dynamics. Jupiter's atmospheric composition, atmospheric circulation, and internal structure are all topics of scientific significance. On December 4, 1973, Pioneer 10 achieved its closest approach to Jupiter, marking the first successful exploration mission to the Jovian system. Since then, Jupiter exploration has gathered more than 50 years of experience with 10 missions, including 7 flyby missions, 2 orbiting missions, Galileo and Juno, and the still en route mission Jupiter Icy moons Explorer (JUICE). This review takes a brief look-back to these 10 Jupiter missions and their science results, especially the progress on Jupiter's atmospheric composition, waves and zonal jet streams, the Great Red Spot, and polar vortices, as well as the unsolved scientific problems. China plans to launch Tianwen-4 by 2030, targeting the Jovian system. To shed some light on the scientific payloads and target design of Tianwen-4, reviewing the past Jupiter missions has certain significance.

Keywords

• jupiter exploration
• atmospheric composition
• atmospheric dynamics
• zonal jet stream
• the great red spot
• polar vortex