Jupiter’s Lightning Creates “Mushballs” | Juno Mission Discovery NASA’s Juno mission has revealed a surprising process inside Jupiter’s violent storms. Powerful lightning deep within the planet’s clouds causes ammonia and water to mix, forming slushy hailstones known as “mushballs.” These dense pellets fall hundreds of kilometers below the cloud tops, carrying ammonia deep into Jupiter’s atmosphere. This discovery explains why ammonia appears depleted in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere but abundant a