Spacecraft skims clouds in close encounter with Jupiter

A spacecraft has skimmed the clouds of Jupiter in a record-breaking close approach to the giant planet.

Juno activated its whole suite of nine instruments as it soared 4,200km above Jupiter’s swirling cloud tops, travelling at 210,000km/h on Saturday.

Nasa tweeted that Juno had successfully completed its closest ever fly-by to the planet, the first of 36, which are scheduled to end in February 2018.