The Juno spacecraft is now poised atop its launch vehicle, the powerful Atlas V rocket, ready to depart on the morning of August 5; the launch window ends August 26.
This latest NASA endeavor is set to arrive at the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter, in July of 2016 and will orbit the gas giant 33 times before it completes its mission by October of 2017.
The purpose of Juno is to investigate what lies underneath the gas giant’s swirling atmosphere at its core. Juno will also study Jupiter’s magnetosphere and auroras in hopes of understanding more about the planet’s origins and evolution.
